Black Joker
by dragonliege242
Summary: It's been 3 months since Aizen's defeat and Ichigo's powers have faded. Or have they? Pangs of pain constantly plague him, accompanied by bursts of unfamiliar reiatsu. One day, his ability to see spirits returns in time for him to see a Hollow chasing a Plus. What followed would change his life forever...again. True Longinus!Brave Saint!Strong!Ichigo IchigoxHarem IsseixHarem
1. Life 0: The Holy Spear Awakens

Welcome to yet another story. This is one that's been bugging me for the past three months, making it harder for me to concentrate on my studies. Now that my exams are finally over, I can get this out to you guys!

To Akuma-Heika who asked me what Houtengeki was in a review for Dragonberry Chronicles: Houtengeki or rather Houtengageki is a halberd I took from the Fate series. It was created by a military adviser who had Chinese General Lu Bu in mind when he created it. It can function as an axe, a shield, a scythe, a bow, a cannon and a spear. Since it's that versatile, I feel that it's a perfect replacement for True Longinus. Plus, I'm adding in a new ability.

After careful consideration, I've decided to keep both Irina and Xenovia in Issei's harem. While Irina is a Brave Saint, she already had a crush on Issei from the start and it's implied that he promised to marry her when they were kids. With her strong faith in God, I can't see her joining the Devils, even if she found out that God was dead. Xenovia doesn't have as strong a faith, and joined Rias's peerage when she found out God was dead. Considering that, it'll be hard for her to have enough interaction with Ichigo to actually fall in love with him. So yeah, both are staying in Issei's harem.

"Black Joker" – Japanese speech

"_Black Joker"_ – Thoughts/flashbacks

"Black Joker" – Italian speech

"_Black Joker__"_ – Italian thoughts

"**Black Joker"** – Hollow Speech

Any perceived slights towards Christianity or any other religion is completely unintentional.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Urgh...dammit, again!?" Kurosaki Ichigo groaned as he clutched his chest, a wave of sharp pain coursing through him. Standing at 6'0 feet with orange hair, lightly tanned skin, brown eyes and a lean, muscled body, Ichigo was an attractive male, though that attractiveness was constantly tarnished by the permanent scowl on his face. Right now, that attractive was further marred as Ichigo hunched over in pain, steadying himself by pressing his forearm against his bedroom wall.

One couldn't tell by appearances alone, but Ichigo was a Shinigami, a guardian of the afterlife. 'Was' being the key operative word. Three months ago, Ichigo sacrificed all of his powers to defeat Aizen Sosuke, a madman hell bent on destroying the natural order of things. His powers should have completely vanished last month, so why...?

"...Why is there reiatsu pouring out of my body!?" Invisible to the average human, Ichigo was emitting a golden aura from his body. Strange, considering his reiatsu had never once been gold. It wasn't that of a Shinigami or a Hollow, he was intimately familiar with both, so those were out. It didn't feel like Uryu Ishida's Quincy reiatsu either, so that was out too. So what did that leave?

As he pondered that, the pain finally subsided and the golden aura faded away. Ichigo slumped back onto his bed, his chest heaving as he took in deep breaths to regulate his breathing.

"What the hell is going on!? My powers are supposed to be gone! I shouldn't have any reiatsu left..." The pangs of pain started shortly after his powers completely faded after the Reigai incident last month. Even the most basic of his abilities, the ability to see supernatural beings, was gone. He had resigned himself to a life of normality, something he had longed for, or at least thought he had. Then the pain started, accompanied by the surges of unfamiliar reiatsu. Neither his dad, who had used the Final Getsuga Tensho before, nor Urahara, the most knowledgeable among them, could offer an explanation. Urahara had put him through a battery of tests, the results of which were inconclusive. He had two choices: go to Seireitei to see if the Twelfth Division could get any results, or tough it out. There was no way in hell he was letting the clown-faced madman anywhere near him, so he just had to endure until the pain faded completely. That was a full month ago, and the pain had not subsided. Rather, it had become more frequent and intense, inconveniencing him, especially when he was at school or fighting off punks who were picking a fight.

...It hurt. Not the pangs of pain he had experiencing as of late, not so much. Rather, it was the pain of being completely powerless once more. Although he constantly complained about his old supernatural abilities, they had at least given him the power he needed to protect his loved ones. Now, they were gone. Granted, his dad and his friends were around to take care of any Hollows that might pop up, but the pain of losing his powers was overwhelming. Adding to that, his friends constantly gave him pitying looks, making the pain even more excruciating. To top it all off, it was the loss of his partners that pained him most. Zangetsu, in the short time he had known him, had been one of the greatest influences in his life, offering wisdom and lending Ichigo his power when he was cornered. He would never admit it out loud, but he even missed his inner Hollow. Even he had tried to take over his body several times, it was also thanks to his intervention that he had survived many battles in which he should have died.

"Stop thinking about it. You'll only depress yourself even further." Ichigo firmly reminded himself. He lay his head down on the pillow, trying to fall asleep before the next wave of pain hit him.

"Help! Help me! Someone, please help me!" Oh look, he was already starting to dream...Wait a minute...

Ichigo shot up. Someone was screaming for help outside. He looked out the window, and promptly rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. A translucent girl with a broken chain sticking out of her chest with a huge white-masked creature hot on her tail. A Plus and a Hollow. That wasn't possible, he wasn't supposed to be able to see them anymore.

"Help! Anyone! Help me!"

Ichigo grimaced. Who cared if it was a hallucination, someone needed help! His old man sure picked a fine time to visit Urahara-san.

"Screw this!" He opened his window open and jumped down to the ground below.

"Hey ugly! Pick on someone your own size!" His shout attracted the Hollow's attention.

"**What's this? A human that can see me? Lucky, I was hunting a morsel but got a full course instead!" **Laughing manically, the Hollow pounced on him. It was then that Ichigo realized that he might have gotten just a bit in over his head.

"Tch, with that level of speed, I can just avoid with Shunpo-!" Ichigo tried to channel reiryoku to his feet in preparation, but then remembered he didn't have any reiryoku left. That mistake would cost him as the Hollow closed the distance between them. The Hollow swung its claw at Ichigo, who tried to step back, but was sent flying with gashes across his chest.

"Arrrrrrgh!?" Ichigo yelled in pain as he crashed into the wall of his house.

"**Hahahahahaha! What's wrong boy!? Weren't you going to be a hero!? Get up! Fight back! At least make this interesting for me!" **The Hollow laughed as Ichigo struggled to get up.

"**Understand boy!? Do you understand the extent of your own powerlessness!? Those without power will be devoured by those who have power! So, don't try to be a hero when you're this useless!" **The Hollow picked Ichigo up in its claws and opened its mouth wide, intent on eating him whole.

"...Fuck..." As the jaws of the Hollow inched closer, Ichigo cursed and struggled in the tight grip. What was he thinking? Even if, by some miracle, he could see Hollows again, what was the point if he didn't have the power to fight them?

"...What was I trying to prove by doing this...?" The closer he came to death, the less he struggled, until finally, he stopped altogether.

"Ah...So, this is it, huh?" Ichigo closed his eyes, preparing for his imminent death. He could feel the Hollow's rancid breath on his skin. In just a moment, he would depart from the mortal plane.

"...Hmm...If this Hollow is eventually purified, will I get to meet mother in Soul Society...?" Ichigo wondered to himself. Yeah, maybe death wasn't so bad, if it meant that he could see his mother. In just a moment...In just a moment...

**[...Don't give up..!]**

"...!?" Ichigo's eyes shot open. The Hollow had stopped...No, it wasn't just the Hollow. The breeze that had been blowing just now seemed to have frozen, leaving the leaves of the nearby tree frozen in a rustling position.

"...Time...froze...?"

**[Don't give up!]**

"Who's there!?" Ichigo's head whipped around as he searched for the source of the voice.

**[Fight back!]**

The voice was coming from...behind him? Turning his head as far back as he could, he caught of a golden glow, and in the center of the light was...

"...A spear...?"

An intricate golden spear floated in mid-air, and the reiatsu coming from it was...the same reiatsu that had been pouring out of his body for the last month! And...there was also a sense of familiarity that was not associated with the pain he had been experiencing. As though, the spear was with him since he was born, just like Zangetsu.

"...You're the source of that reiatsu...?"

**[What are you doing!? Hurry up and use me!]**

"Tch...No choice!" Ichigo reached out with his free arm and grasped the shaft of the spear. As he swung it at Hollow's mask, time slowly began to flow again. As the Hollow was about to bite down, it caught a glint of gold and stopped, in time for the blade of the spear to smash into its mask, fragmenting it, and revealing a human face below.

"**Arrrrrgh! You fucking brat, what did you...!?" **The Hollow screamed in pain and outrage, clutching at its bleeding wound, but was halted when Ichigo slammed the hilt of the spear into its gut, sending it skidding backwards.

"...Finishing blow...!" Ichigo lifted the spear and threw it with his remaining strength. The spear flew through the air, leaving a trail of golden light in its path. The spear pierced the Hollow, not giving it enough to scream as it faded away.

"...Haaa...Haaa...!" Falling onto all fours, Ichigo breathed heavily, the adrenaline fading from his system. His vision began to blur and he began to feel lightheaded.

"...Shit...Men aren't supposed to faint like a little wuss..." As his consciousness faded, he did manage to register two more things.

First, the spear which was imbedded in the ground faded away and something entered his body.

Second...

"Ichigo!"

"Kurosaki!"

"...Ichigo!"

"Kurosaki-kun!"

...His dad and his three friends were rushing over to him.

* * *

Ichigo shot up from his lying down position...and immediately regretted it. His entire body was aching and his vision was somewhat blurry. But, he recognized that he was in his room. And that his dad and his three friends were beside him.

"Ichigo?" His dad's voice called out to him.

"Goat face...? What happened to me...?"

"That's what we'd like to know. But before that, how do you feel?"

"Hmm...although my whole body hurts like hell, my wounds are gone. And since I'm in my room...I guess that means Chad carried me in and Inoue healed me. Thanks, you two."

"I-I-I-It was nothing!" Orihime waved her hands in front of her as she stuttered. Chad just nodded. Meanwhile, Uryu and his dad were staring at him.

"What's with those looks?"

"Kurosaki...Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Ichigo...your reiatsu has returned."

"What!?" Concentrating, Ichigo could indeed feel his massive reiatsu once more. But...something had changed.

"...I can't feel my Shinigami or my Hollow powers..." His reiatsu was indeed back, but it had an unfamiliar texture to it, one that was definitely not that of a Shinigami or a Hollow.

"Can you explain what happened?" His dad inquired. Ichigo placed his palm against his forehead

"...I had another one of those pangs of pain. And when it faded, I could hear a Plus crying for help. I tried to fight off the Hollow that was chasing it, but I was taken out. When it was about to eat me..." Ichigo's head shot up.

"That's right...The spear!"

"Spear?"

"Yeah, just when I was about to be eaten, time suddenly seem to freeze and a voice I never heard called out to me. It was coming from a golden spear that had the same reiatsu as the one that had been pouring out of me for the last month. It told me to use it to fight back, and I managed to defeat the Hollow with it..."

"A spear that can harm Hollows?" Uryu adopted a thoughtful expression, Orihime looked confused, Chad was as stoic as ever, and his dad...was paling rapidly.

"What's wrong, goat face? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"...Ichigo, what happened to the spear?"

"Hm...I think it went into my body..."

"Can you summon it?"

"Let's see..." Closing his eyes, Ichigo reached deep into his soul.

...There. Ichigo lifted his hand and the same golden spear appeared in a flash in his grasp, causing his friends to jump and his dad to pale even further.

"...Ugh...True Longinus, of all things..."

"Longinus?"

"That's the spear that pierced the side of Jesus Christ during his crucifixion, right?" Uryu asked.

"The one and the same. The spear that you're holding is that very spear." The shock of that revelation caused Ichigo to drop the spear, which faded away like before.

"That's the same spear!?"

"As hard as it is to believe, yes."

"I feel as though this spear has been with me all along. If that's the case, why did it only awaken now?" Isshin adopted a thoughtful expression that looked very out of place.

"Well, I'm no Kisuke, but since Shinigamis are dark in nature and yours in particular were very powerful, they acted as a seal on True Longinus. But when they were fully faded last month, True Longinus was also freed. Thus, it began to rapidly awaken, causing pain to you, its wielder." Everyone was stunned into silence, until...

"Arrrgh!?" Ichigo hunched over when his arms suddenly started hurting like hell. The pain soon spread to the rest of his body.

"Kurosaki!?"

"The hell!? It feels like...molten lava is being poured into my blood vessels...!" Uryu gasped.

"Kurosaki, your skin...!" Ichigo took a good look. Red and blue lines were spreading over his skin.

"What is this...!?"

"Blut!? Impossible...!"

"Ishida, you know what this is...?"

"Kurosaki...this is Blut. It's a special ability to manipulate your physical strength or defences by pumping reishi through your blood vessels. But...Blut is a Quincy ability! So, why is it that you..."

"A Quincy ability!? Why do I have a Quincy ability!?"

"Haaaa...Looks like the holy reiatsu from True Longinus awakened your latent Quincy powers. I was hoping this would never happen..." Isshin sighed while holding his palm against his forehead.

"Latent Quincy powers...!? What are you talking about...!?" Ichigo groaned out while enduring the pain.

"...Ichigo...During the battle with Aizen, you said that you wait until I was ready to tell you the truth. Now...is that time."

"The...truth?"

"Ichigo...you aren't a Shinigami, but you aren't an ordinary human either."

* * *

"..."

Once more, the entire room was stunned into silence. Ichigo already knew he wasn't an ordinary human...but he never thought his mother was involved in the supernatural world. Or that his inner Hollow had been with him since he was born. But, somehow...that revelation had cleared the turmoil in his soul that had stirred since the battle with Aizen.

"...So, Kurosaki and I are...related?" Uryu asked after recovering from the shock.

"All Quincies are related to each other since they all descended from the same man, so I guess you two are distantly-related."

Ichigo and Uryu turned to look at each other and silently agreed that they couldn't see it.

"But...there's still one more truth that I have to tell you: the truth of June 17th, 10 years ago. The day your mother died."

"June 17th!?" Uryu unexpectedly reacted with shock to the date.

"Ah, you should listen carefully too, Uryu-kun. This...also has to do with your mother's death."

Ichigo's jaw dropped. Uryu's mother had died as well? And it was connected to his mother's death?

"Ichigo...your mother shouldn't have died that day. As you just experienced yourself, all Echt Quincies are born with Blut and even Gemischt Quincies can train until they acquire it. Your mother's defensive Blut, Blut Vene, in particular was incredibly powerful. A low-level Hollow like Grand Fisher shouldn't even have been able to scratch her. That day...it wasn't that I didn't know that you and Masaki were in danger. I sensed Grand Fisher's reiatsu, but because my powers were sealed at the time by Kisuke's special Gigai, I didn't go to help her. She was supposed to have killed Grand Fisher without even breaking a sweat. But as you know...that didn't happen. Uryu-kun, your mother fell into a coma on June 17th and died three months later."

"What!? Just what the hell happened on June 17th!?"

"...Auswahlen.. That day, the Quincy King, Yhwach, performed a 'selection' of Quincies, draining the powers of all of the Gemischt Quincies, including Masaki, who despite being an Echt Quincy, was infected with Hollow reiatsu, which tainted her in Yhwach's eyes."

A chair clattered to the floor as Uryu rose to his feet, his face marred by an expression of pure outrage. Chad placed a hand on his shoulder and Uryu's face slowly returned to a neutral expression.

"...Quincy folklore tells of a sealed king, that he would regain his heart in 900 years, his intellect in 90 years and his power in 9 years. In order to regain his lost power, he took the power of all the 'impure' Quincy. Because of that, Uryu-kun's mother, Kanae Katagiri, a Gemischt Quincy, died as she was already weakened by illness, and Masaki, who was fighting Grand Fisher at the time, was killed."

"...How could he do something like that!? Because he's the king!? Just who is this Yhwach!?"

Isshin closed his eyes.

"Yhwach is the first Quincy. All Quincies originated from him. And...his blood flows in every single Quincy."

"..." Ichigo gritted his teeth. His mother died because of that bastard!?

"...Where is he now?"

"Who knows? But he's definitely alive. And waiting for a chance to strike back at Soul Society for the Quincy Massacre. You'll probably meet him sooner or later on the battlefield."

Ichigo took deep breaths to calm himself. There was no point in getting angry. If this Yhwach was strong enough to survive the massacre, there was no way the current him could win. He would train, and when Yhwach showed himself, he would be ready.

The tension in the room was finally dissipating when suddenly, the air suddenly grew heavier, causing Ichigo and his friends to stumble while Isshin just looked surprised.

"What...is this!? Reiatsu!? Four above Captain-Class reiatsus!?" One is the old man Soutaicho, but the other three..." Ichigo muttered as he regained his balance.

"...I recognize one of the other three, and I have a pretty good idea who the other two are. They must be here because of True Longinus."

"Who are they?"

"You'll see. Let's go greet them." Isshin left the room and hurried downstairs and everyone followed him. The four reiatsu signatures were right outside. Isshin opened the door. Outside stood the familiar imposing figure of Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, the Soutaicho of Gotei 13. Wearing the standard black Shihakkusho under his captain's haori, desceptiveky hiding his muscular, scarred body. He made for a very intimidating sight despite his old age. Behind him stood three unfamiliar men. A handsome red-haired man with green eyes in a black suit, a rugged-looking middle-aged man with black hair with a bit of blonde at the front wearing a kimono, and a youthful blonde man with green eyes wearing ceremonial robes.

"Long time no see, Sirzechs. What brings you, a Maou, the viceroy of the Fallen Angels, the leader of the Angels and the Soutaicho of Gotei 13 to my humble abode?" Isshin greeted one of the three jovially, though Ichigo couldn't tell which one. That aside, Maou? Fallen Angels? Angels? Were these three who he thought they were?

"It has been a while, Isshin. I wish I could say this was a social visit, but I'm here to investigate something. Looks like Heaven, Grigori and Gotei 13 had the same idea." The red-haired man, Sirzechs, replied.

"I see. Ichigo, everyone, this is Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the four Maous governing Hell. The black-haired man in the kimono is Azazel, the leader of the Fallen Angels. The blonde is Archangel Michael, the leader of the Angels."

Three important figures from Christian Mythology were standing at his doorstep. The sad part was that Ichigo couldn't find it in himself to be surprised by anything anymore.

* * *

A few minutes later, Ichigo found himself seated in the living room, with all eyes on him. He ignored the gazes and downed the tea that Uryu had volunteered to make (so that Orihime wouldn't make it instead, that would have been disastrous).

"...So, Sirzechs-san is a...Devil?" Orihime broke the awkward silence first.

"Yes, I'm one of the four leaders that govern the rest of our kind. I was elected after the Great War." Sirzechs replied with a smile before sipping his tea

"Elected? Wasn't Lucifer made the leader of all Devils after his fall from Heaven?" Uryu inquired.

"No no, I'm not that Lucifer. The original Lucifer along with the other original Maous perished during the Great War. Lucifer is now a title rather than an actual name. My real name is Sirzechs Gremory."

"A new Lucifer? Does that mean that Michael-san and Azazel-san are also...?" Orihime trailed off at the end, though what she was asking was quite obvious.

"No, we are the original Michael and Azazel." Michael replied.

"...So, why are all of you here?" Ichigo decided to stop with the stalling. Immediately, the mood became more serious.

"Two hours ago, the Twelfth Division detected a sharp spike of holy reiatsu in the vicinity of this house. At first, we believed it was Ishida Uryu dispatching a Hollow with an overpowered Heilig Pfeil, but the holy reiatsu did not match that of a Quincy. We saw that it was in fact you dispatching the Hollow when we switched to visual surveillance, and I saw you wielding True Longinus. True Longinus is an exceptionally powerful weapon, its capabilities exceeding even Zanpakutos, which is why I felt it was necessary to come see you myself."

"For we Devils, and I suspect for the Angels and the Fallen Angels as well, we are more familiar with True Longinus, so we immediately knew True Longinus had appeared in this town. As Yamamoto-dono said, True Longinus is an exceptionally powerful weapon and dangerous in the wrong hands, so I came to see the wielder for myself. I was pleasantly surprised the wielder turned out to be Isshin's kid. I'm guessing Michael-dono and Azazel are here for the same reason." Michael nodded in agreement, but Azazel laughed boisterously.

"I don't really care whether or not the wielder gets involved in our affairs, it'd be interesting either way, but I'm pretty interested in Sacred Gears, so I decided to come see it for myself."

"Sacred Gears? What are those?" Ichigo asked after hearing the unfamiliar term for the first time. The four leaders looked surprised.

"You don't know? True Longinus is something we call a Sacred Gear. Sacred Gears are powerful items that the God of the Bible created, irregular powers bestowed randomly on certain humans. Most humans who have had their name written down in history were Sacred Gear possessors. By using the power of their Sacred Gears to perform incredible feats, they made their mark in history. There are many different kinds of Sacred Gears, and more than one of the same Sacred Gear can exist, with 13 exceptions. But, Sacred Gears will only manifest in a human, or those who possess human blood. It's possible for a single wielder to possess more than one Sacred Gear, but again with 13 exceptions." Azazel enthusiastically explained. Ichigo quickly processed the information before asking his next question.

"What are the 13 exceptions you mentioned?" Azazel's eyes lit up. Creepy.

"They are called the Longinus Gears. As you can probably tell from the name, the term is derived from your True Longinus, which is also the first and the strongest of the 13. The 13 are as follows, the High-Tier Longinus: True Longinus, Zenith Tempest, Annihilation Maker and Dimension Lost. The Mid-Tier Longinus: Boosted Gear, Divine Dividing and Regulus Nemea. The Low-Tier Longinus: Canis Lycaon, Incineration Anthem, Absolute Demise, Innovate Clear, Sephiroth Grail and Telos Karma. They are exceptionally Sacred Gears that have a common ability: to kill Gods."

"Kill Gods!?" Ichigo exclaimed in alarm.

"That's right. Oh, but your True Longinus is the only one among the 13 that can slay Gods in its base form."

"Base form?"

"All Sacred Gears have the potential to evolve into an even stronger form. That form is called Balance Breaker. You can liken it to the Bankai of the Zanpakutos of the Shinigami. In that form, not only does the wielder experience a sharp increase in their power, the Sacred Gears themselves have enhanced abilities and even develop new ones." Ichigo took in the information and absentmindedly summoned True Longinus to his hand to study it.

"What a familiar sight. The ultimate God-slaying Holy Spear." Michael muttered as he, as well as everyone else in the room, stared at the golden spear in Ichigo's hand.

After a moment of silence, Ichigo spoke up.

"So, what happens now?" The four leaders looked at each other. Yamamoto spoke first.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, what do you intend to do with True Longinus?" The question caused Ichigo to blink.

"What do you mean?"

"Now that you have awakened True Longinus, you will never be able to return to a normal life. Other factions will attempt to recruit you to use True Longinus's power for their cause, or will attempt to kill you before you can become a threat. If you wish to live, you must train yourself in the usage of True Longinus. , However, while it pains me to say this as you have rendered a great service to Gotei 13 by defeating Aizen, you are dangerous. We would have ease of mind if you joined one of our four factions, as none of us have any desire to start a war with each other."

Ah, so that's why they came, to recruit him.

"What do you think, Michael-dono, Azazel?" Sirzechs asked the two men. Michael maintained his silence, while Azazel shrugged.

"Like I said, I don't really care one or the other which of us he joins. Anyway, the Grigori already have Divine Dividing and Canis Lycaon on our side. We aren't really desperate for another Longinus user, though I wouldn't mind."

"I see. Well, while we Devils do not have any Longinus possessors in our faction, there's me and Ajuka, as well as the other two Maou and the Ultimate-Class Devils. Gotei 13 has you, Yamamoto-dono and Unohana-dono, as well as your other Captains."

"In other words, the weakest faction among us is..." Azazel trailed off.

"Heaven." Michael finished with a somber look on his face.

"I heard a rumor that you recruited a Longinus possessor. Is that true?" Azazel asked Michael.

"Yes. Dulio Gesualdo, the possessor of Zenith Tempest. However, Dulio is...unmotivated, except by the thought of food." Michael said with an exasperated expression on his face. Sirzechs, Yamamoto and Isshin had similar dumfounded looks on their faces, while Azazel snickered. Ichigo and his friends, while still not familiar with the happenings of the world of Christian Mythology, all adopted a deadpan look on their faces. Then, something occurred to Ichigo.

"Wait, why is Heaven the weakest among the factions? Isn't there still the God of the Bible? Considering that, Heaven shouldn't be weak at all, right?" Ichigo asked in confusion.

Michael's face fell and the other three leaders adopted somber looks. It was his dad that dropped the bombshell.

"Ichigo...the God of the Bible is dead."

"...What?" Ichigo's mind attempted to process that unbelievable bit of information.

"Our God fell along with the original Maou at the climax of the Great War. It was because of their deaths, as well as the deaths of several Fallen Angel leaders that the war ended: because all three sides were too weak to continue." Michael sighed.

"Michael-dono is governing Heaven in God's place, and he's doing a good job, but the difference between now and the time where God was still alive is very obvious. Blessings are no longer given as frequently as before, most prayers go unanswered, blessed items no longer have as strong an effect on beings of darkness as before, the repercussions of God's death are just too numerous to count. Thankfully, only we of the highest echelons in our factions know the truth, and almost no humans know about God's death. God had died at a time where the most numerous and devout followers existed, the news of God's death would have sent the entire world into turmoil." Sirzechs followed with further elaboration.

"Soul Society isn't part of Christian Mythology, how do they know about this?" Uryu asked.

"After the Great War, as most of us were too concentrated on healing, the sinners imprisoned in Hell staged a breakout, escaping to the Human World. None of the Three Factions who participated in the war were in any condition to recapture them, so Gotei 13 did it for us. It was at that time I met Isshin."

"_Sinners, huh? Just like Kokuto..."_ Images of a white-haired man with a heavily burnt body and eyes filled with hatred and resentment towards the world surfaced in Ichigo's mind before he banished them. Tense silence reigned in the living room.

"So, Kurosaki Ichigo-kun, what is your decision? You can rejoin Gotei 13, the faction you are most familiar with, or you can join any of our factions that can teach you more about using Sacred Gears. The choice is yours." Michael asked while gazing at Ichigo.

Ichigo silently thought to himself. He could no longer live a normal life and from the Soutaicho's explanation, he would be constantly targeted from now on, which meant his family and friends were also in danger. He would very much like to join Soul Society once more, but he also wanted to learn as fast as he could, and Soul Society's knowledge of Sacred Gears was limited. And as was just explained, the world's balance was now in a precarious state. In order to help maintain it...

"...I'll join Heaven. I want to learn as fast as I can about True Longinus and its abilities." The four leaders nodded in acceptance.

"Understood. In order to maintain neutrality and balance among us, and to one day come to an understanding, Ichigo-kun will join Heaven's side." Sirzechs concluded the impromptu meeting.

"Well then, Kurosaki Ichigo-kun, allow me to be the first to welcome you to Heaven's side." Michael smiled and placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulders.

"Now then, preparations must be made post-haste. You'll come with me to Vatican City..."

"Wait, what!?"

"Well, you have to go to the Church's main headquarters to receive proper training. Is there something wrong?"

"A lot of things, but two I can name off the top of my head. First: I'm still schooling. Second: I don't know a word of Italian or any of their customs." Michael paused.

"We can arrange for you to transfer to a school in Vatican City, but the second problem is indeed a big one..."

"Then, why not let Kurosaki stay here for a month or so. He can learn basic Italian and settle the proper paperwork for his transfer to the Vatican. It'll also allow us enough time to explain to our friends about why he's leaving and come up with a cover story for those who are not aware of the supernatural world." Ishida suggested.

"Hmm...Yes, that would be the appropriate course of action. Very well, do whatever you need and be prepared to depart for the Vatican in a month's time. I'll see you then, Ichigo-kun." Michael disappeared in a flash of golden light.

"It's about time I took my leave. I wish you the best of luck, Ichigo-kun." Sirzechs left through a magic circle.

"Well, this was a fun trip. I better get back before Shemhaza finds out I left." Azazel whistled a jolly tune as he left through a magic circle of his own, leaving Ichigo, his friends, Isshin and the Soutaicho.

Instead of leaving, Yamamoto looked at Ichigo.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, I've been wondering this for a while, but I seem to sense Quincy reiatsu coming from you."

"About that..." Ichigo explained the circumstances to Yamamoto, whose expression became more and more perturbed as he listened.

Yamamoto was in a bit of a conundrum. He didn't like Quincies, not at all. On the other hand, while Ichigo had Quincy blood, he also had Shinigami blood. And he had never shown any indication of dislike for Shingamis in general, only for their rigid laws and customs, which even he reluctantly agreed were too inflexible. Ishida Uryu, despite his disdain for Shinigami, had also aided them on several occasions.

"_Blood doesn't decide destiny." _He would leave them be, they and their friends and families were powerful allies after all. And if Central 46 wanted to complain about letting two Quincies run free, or freely letting Kurosaki Ichigo join Heaven's side, well then, he would have to remind them who it was who built Soul Society from the ground up, and who the true leader of Soul Society really was.

"I must return to Seireitei to prepare for a war with Yhwach and his army. Aizen caught us off guard with his betrayal, I will repeat the same mistake with Yhwach." Yamamoto raised his cane and turned it, causing a Senkaimon to appear, which he stepped through.

With the visitors gone, Ichigo finally relaxed.

"Vatican City, huh? There are going to be some problems. How different the culture is..." Isshin started.

"...How different the curriculum in an Italian school is from ours..." Ishida continued

"...How different the food is..." Inoue followed up.

"...How the people there will react to a foreigner..." Chad added his own two cents.

"...And most of all..."Ichigo started to conclude.

"...How are we going to explain this to Yuzu?"

* * *

A month went by in a flash. As Ichigo had anticipated, Yuzu did not like the idea of Ichigo and she made that clear vocally.

"NO! NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" She threw a tantrum for a full week before calming down enough to negotiate with her, finally relenting after forcing Ichigo to agree that he would Skype them every day and not get a girlfriend.

Ichigo had made some progress in his Italian over the past month. While not a master of the language, he could at least carry out a conversation in accented and occasionally broken Italian.

Soul Society had sent Ikkaku to teach him the basics of Soujutsu, and while he wasn't as skilled as Ikkaku was with a spear, he did master the basics of thrusting and swinging. At the very least, he wouldn't accidently impale himself on either end. He had also accidently discovered one of True Longinus's abilities: energy blasts. A minor tremor shook the town that day and Urahara's training area now had a new crater to show for it.

Uryu and his father, Ryuken, had also taught him the basics of Quincy techniques. Hirenkyaku, Ginto techniques, and naturally, Blut. He still preferred Shunpo to Hirenkyaku, he found Hirenkyaku to be a bit too stiff for his liking. But hey, beggars can't be choosers. He didn't want a repeat of what happened when he tried to fight the Hollow. He managed to manifest his Quincy Cross, and thus his spirit weapon, though it was still only the basic Kojaku, nowhere near as advanced as Uryu's or Ryuken's metal bows. His dad also gave him three Seele Schneiders that once belonged to his mother. He was a bit more comfortable with them. Though they were meant to be used as arrows, they could also be used as swords.

The paperwork for his transfer from Karakura High to St. Peter's International School in Vatican City was filed last week. The real reason was of course, known only to his family, his friends, Uryu's father and Urahara's group. As far as the rest of Karakura Town was concerned, Ichigo had been offered a place at a prestigious school in Italy.

And so here he was, one month later, getting off the airplane at Ciampino Airport. His family and friends had seen him off at Kyoto International Airport, though Yuzu had made a scene, begging him not to leave, and attracting the attention of a lot of people. He loved his little sister, but her attachment to him frustrated him sometimes. At least Karin was more accepting, though to be fair, Karin was better aware of the supernatural world than Yuzu.

Now then, Michael said he would meet him in the main lobby. Where was he...?

"Ichigo-kun!" Ichigo turned his head in the direction of the voice and caught sight of Michael in the crowd.

"_Ah, speak of the devil..." _Ichigo paused. The irony of that statement was not lost on him. He turned his head in the direction of the voice and caught sight of Michael in the crowd. This time, Michael was dressed in a white suit.

"Michael-san. Were you waiting long?"

"No, I just got here, actually. Are you ready to leave? It's a 20-minute drive to Vatican City from here, so if you need to pay a visit to the men's room first..."

"No need, I already took care of business on the plane."

"Alright then, shall we go?" Michael led Ichigo to the entrance, where a limo was parked and a valet held the door open for them, closing it once they were both seated inside.

"A limo? Isn't this a bit much?" Ichigo asked as he patted the velvet seat.

"This limo belongs to the Vatican. This is the only way to get into headquarters without going through security."

"I see..." They sat in silence for a minute or so, before Ichigo asked a question.

"Michael-san, I did some research on the Vatican, and I read that St. Peter's Basilica is a major pilgrimage site. Is it really where I'm going to train?"

"No. Near St Peter's Basilica, we have a facility hidden from normal mortal eyes by angelic magic. That is where you'll be receiving your training every day after your school day is over, or the whole day on weekends."

"Understood."

"Ichigo-kun, I must warn you, the people at headquarters are very...conservative. They may not take kindly to a foreigner, much less one that does not have true faith in our Lord. However, as I am personally escorting you to headquarters, you will be mostly welcome. But, most of your 'admirers' will be ones trying to gain favor with me by associating themselves with you. While there are true believers that will think that you are a 'chosen', they are few in numbers, so I advise to caution yourself."

"Okay. Thank you for the warning." The rest of the trip was spent in silence, and the limo finally reached Vatican City, but instead of driving straight to St. Peter's Basilica, the limo instead took a longer route to the back. The air rippled, as though they had passed through a wall of water, and Ichigo deduced that was the barrier that protected the facility. He took a look outside a window and was greeted by the sight of a grand cathedral that couldn't have possibly fitted into the narrow street they were just driving through. The guards at the gates made to stop for a security check, but stopped when they took a good look at the limo and opened the gates without a second glance.

The limo pulled up in what appeared to a courtyard that spanned for a huge distance. Ichigo couldn't see the boundaries at all.

"A pocket dimension?" That was the only explanation he could think of.

"Very astute of you. You are correct. This entire property is contained within a pocket dimension created by angelic magic, the entrance of which is hidden behind St. Peter's Basilica." Michael answered. They both walked up the stairs to the doors, Ichigo pulling his luggage behind him. The sentries standing at the sides of the doors froze when they saw Michael.

"L-L-L-L-Lord Michael. It is an honor!" They stuttered in Italian and bowed deeply to Michael. Ichigo's basic knowledge of the language allowed him to get the gist of what they said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two. I'm escorting the newest member of our faction. Will you open the doors?" Michael asked in flawless Italian.

"Y-Y-Yes, my Lord!" The two guards turned to push the doors open, all the while staring at Ichigo in awe.

"_Who is this kid that Lord Michael himself is personally escorting him?__"_ Was the thought that crossed both of their minds.

The set of giant doors opened with a loud creak, drawing the attention of those inside, who appeared to be engaged in a praying session. All of them scrambled to their feet, bowing to Michael.

"Lord Michael!" All of them bowed as low as they could, though one remained seated as he stared not at Michael, but at Ichigo in fascination. He was a tall, handsome blonde and green-eyed man and in his hands was…a half-eaten rice cake?

"Good day to you all. I've brought the newest member of our faction here today. This is Kurosaki Ichigo-kun from Japan. He's the current possessor of True Longinus and has agreed to join our faction. I trust you will accommodate him?" All heads snapped towards Ichigo, staring at him in awe, envy and fear. Only the same blonde man did not seem to register any of three emotions.

"If it is your wish, my Lord, we would gladly welcome him into our ranks!" A bald old man dressed in priest clothes exclaimed exuberantly, though Ichigo could hear the gears turning in his head.

"_This must be one of the guys Michael-san warned me about."_

"Very good. Dulio." Michael called to the blonde man, who finally rose from his seat.

"Yes, Lord Michael?" He asked while munching on the rice cake.

"I see your appetite is as voracious as ever. I'm leaving you in charge of Ichigo-kun's training. In the event that you are sent on a mission, appoint someone you trust to train him in your place. However, only you are allowed to train him in the use of True Longinus. I'd rather not have an accident because someone got in over their heads and thought they knew enough about Longinus Gears to mess around with them. If possible, help him achieve Balance Breaker." Michael instructed…Dulio, was it? Ichigo vaguely recalled the name being brought up during the meeting last month. Dulio Gesualdo, the possessor of Zenith Tempest, a High-Tier Longinus like his own True Longinus.

"Understood. I'll take care of the kid." Ichigo took slight offence at being called a kid, but didn't voice it out. This man was going to help him master True Longinus, after all.

"Good. Ichigo-kun, I'll be taking my leave. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors." Michael said, switching from Italian to Japanese when he turned to address Ichigo.

"Thank you, Michael-san." Michael disappeared in a flash of light.

"So, it's Ichigo, right?" Dulio spoke in surprisingly fluent Japanese.

"That's right. You're Dulio Gesualdo. Michael-san told me about you. You speak Japanese?" Ichigo answered.

"Well, before I joined the Church, I travelled around the world looking for exotic food, so I picked up a few languages." Dulio replied with a shrug. He turned to the bald old man.

"Archbishop, it's okay if he stays in one of the empty rooms, right?" Dulio asked, though his tone suggested that he wouldn't take no for an answer. Perhaps the Archbishop picked up on that and did not dare offend a Longinus user, or he was just trying to suck up to them, but he agreed. Dulio gestured for Ichigo to follow him. Pulling his luggage along, Ichigo was lead through a wooden door into a hallway with many more wooden doors. Near the end of the hallway, Dulio pushed open one of the doors and Ichigo entered the room.

It wasn't bad. It was spacious, a bit bigger than his room back home. It was empty, save for a bed, a bedside table, a desk and a chair. It was also connected to a small bathroom. All in all, it was better Ichigo thought.

"This is where you'll be staying for as long as you're with us. Are you still schooling?"

"Yeah, Michael-san got me enrolled in the St. Peter's International School. He said I would come here to train after school was over."

"I see. It's a good attitude, not neglecting your formal education. It's rather sad that attitude isn't shared by most of the people here. When do you start school and what time does your school day normally end?"

"It starts next week and it ends at 3 pm every day. It's supposed to be mandatory for students to join a club, but Michael-san pulled some strings so that I wouldn't have to."

"Alright, I'll leave you to yourself. Come to the courtyard when you're ready to start your training. The key to your room is on the bedside table. Make sure you lock your room every time you leave, you don't want people sneaking in and taking your stuff." Dulio left the room, closing the door behind him. As Dulio had said, there was a brass key on the table.

Ichigo flopped down on the bed, noting that it was a bit stiff, probably never used. As he stared at the ceiling, he wondered how life at this new home away from home was going to be like.

* * *

(Four years later)

Rias Gremory was not in a good mood. She was a relatively tall, red-haired and green-eyed woman in her teens, her good looks earning her and her Queen, Himejima Akeno, the title of "The Two Onee-samas of Kuou Academy."

Standing behind her was her peerage. Her aforementioned Queen, Himejima Akeno, a beautiful black-haired, purple-eyed teenage girl. She was what Japanese Otakus, including Rias herself, though that fact was known to many, would call a 'Yamato Nadeshiko'. Akeno was a Human/Fallen Angel hybrid born to a human mother and Barakiel, one of the leaders of the Grigori. Unfortunately, her mother was killed by her father's enemies when she was little and she subsequently had a falling out with him. It was shortly after that that she joined Rias's peerage as the first member. She utilized lightning and other forms of magic to fight, earning her the title of 'Lightning Priestess'.

Next to her was her Rook, Toujou Koneko, a short, white-haired and hazel-eyed girl. She was also known as the school mascot. She was a rare variation of a Nekomata known as a Nekoshou. In fact, she was one of the two remaining Nekoshous in existence, the other being her estranged older sister. She was brought into a Devil's peerage, though not as a member herself, when her sister joined said Devil's peerage as a Bishop. Unfortunately, her sister had apparently gone insane after attempting to use senjutsu, killing her master and fleeing the Underworld, leaving Koneko, then known as Shirone, behind. Fearful of a similar incident occurring if she was left alone, Koneko was sentenced to death by the higher echelons of the Devils, though Rias's brother, Sirzechs Lucifer, had saved her and entrusted her to Rias. Koneko was a melee fighter, using the overwhelming strength and nigh impregnable defense of a Rook to defeat her enemies.

Next was the newest member of Rias's peerage, Asia Argento, a petite blonde, green-eyed girl. She joined the peerage only a month or so ago, after Rias and her peerage had rescued her from the Fallen Angels, though 'rescued' may not be the appropriate word, since she had died and subsequently been revived by a Bishop Evil Piece. Asia was originally a nun, praised as a 'Holy Maiden' for her Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing that allowed her to heal any wounds, illnesses and afflictions short of death. Unfortunately, she was exiled after unwittingly using said power to heal a Devil. Being an orphan, she had no other option but to join the Fallen Angels who saw her as nothing but a tool. Asia was no fighter, her roles in battle being limited to only support.

The next member of her peerage was her Knight, Kiba Yuuto, a handsome blonde, green-eyed teenage boy, admired by the girls of the school and envied by the boys. Yuuto was the sole survivor of the 'Holy Sword Project', a barbaric project undertaken by the Church to create wielders artificially compatible with the Excalibur fragments. The project ended in failure and Yuuto, along with the rest of the test subjects were to be killed. Through his comrades' sacrifice, Yuuto alone had managed to escape from those sent to kill them, though if it hadn't been for Rias's intervention, their sacrifice would have been in vain as poison ravaged Yuuto's body. Yuuto was a swordsman, using his skill with swords and his speed to overpower enemies. He possessed a Sacred Gear, Sword Birth, that allowed him to mass produce Demonic Swords, though they couldn't compare to the legendary ones like Gram and Balmung.

Yuuto did well in hiding it, but he held a massive grudge against the Excaliburs and vowed to destroy all of them one day. He had never let that affect his daily life, and up until last week, he had been perfectly fine. However, last week, he happened upon a photo in one of the albums chronicling Issei's childhood. A photo of Issei, his childhood friend and a Holy Sword in the background. Since then, Yuuto had been acting strange, constantly contemplating something and not being able to perform at his best. This had gone on until the Ball Tournament yesterday, where, though they had won, Yuuto had not contributed at all. He finally wandered off on his own, and no one had seen him since the end of the Ball Tournament.

The last member of her peerage present was her Pawn, Hyoudo Issei, a pervert with a heart of gold, though most couldn't see that because of his perverseness. He was the most surprising member of her peerage, possessing the Mid-Tier Longinus Boosted Gear, but had otherwise been an ordinary boy before joining her peerage. His base stats were laughably low, barely above that of a human, but with Boosted Gear, he could easily become the strongest member of her peerage. He had joined the peerage after being killed by a Fallen Angel who attempted to eliminate him due to his Sacred Gear. Like Koneko, he was also a melee fighter, using Boosted Gear and the Pawn's Promotion to increase his power and fight his enemies.

He was also she had fallen in love with. A week ago, her ex-fiancé tried to force her to marry him, but Issei barely beat him in a one-on-one match, sacrificing his left arm to do so. It wasn't gone or anything, but it now had the appearance of a Dragon's claw, though it could temporarily return to its human appearance through a method that Rias and to her chagrin, Akeno enjoyed employing on Issei.

There was another member, but he currently wasn't present.

That was her other Bishop, Gasper Vladi, a short blonde, red-eyed boy that could easily be mistaken for a girl, a misconception not helped by his hobby of crossdressing. He was originally a Human/Vampire hybrid who was constantly looked down upon by pure-blood vampires and feared and abused by humans. This was because of his Sacred Gear, Forbidden Balor View, which allowed him to stop time for a while. An amazing ability, but Gasper could not control it at all, leading to his sealing in a room on the first floor of the old school building, where the clubroom of the Occult Research Club, a front for Rias's peerage, was located.

Back to the subject, why was Rias in a bad mood? Well, the two exorcists seated on the sofa opposite her, Shidou Irina, Issei's childhood friend, and Xenovia both Excalibur wielders, barged into her territory unannounced, an act that could serve as grounds to start a war between the Devils and Heaven. On top of that, they had the nerve to imply that she would form an alliance with the Fallen Angels, who had three Excalibur fragments, in order to attack the Church. True to her noble upbringing, she did not get visibly angry, not much anyway. The same could not be said for Yuuto, who was releasing murderous intent towards the two when they revealed their Excaliburs.

"So, it's only you two sent to retrieve the Excalibur fragments? Your Church sure is strange, sending only two people on a possible suicide mission, considering the enemy is a Fallen Angel Cadre." Xenovia, the blue and green-haired girl, however smiled.

"True, with just the two of us, the chances of success are only 30% at best, however, a third will be coming soon. He's just on another mission right now."

"Oh? And who is this third person? The wielder of Excalibur Blessings?"

"No, that guy is being stationed at the Vatican to guard the last fragment of the Excalibur on the off chance that we fail. The one who is coming is 'The Church's Strongest Exorcist'."

That revelation caused Rias to pale rapidly. The other members of her peerage, save Issei, had similar pale expressions and even Yuuto, whose attention was directed at the Excaliburs, looked alarmed. Rias raised the question that everyone, save Issei, had on their minds.

"Kurosaki Ichigo is coming here!?"

Xenovia and Irina smiled at their panic.

"That's right. With him, the chances of success shoot up to 95%. That should give you an inkling of how strong Ichigo-senpai really is." Irina exclaimed with her nose in the air and her chest puffed out.

"Though with that said, he'll only be here in a week's time. He's currently on a mission to slay a chimera that wandered into Rome. Our objective before he arrives is simply to locate the enemies' base."

"Buchou, who is this Kurosaki Ichigo, and why are you so afraid of him?" Issei asked, being completely clueless as to who Kurosaki Ichigo was.

"Kurosaki Ichigo is a top exorcist who appeared 4 years ago. No target he's been sent after, be they creatures, stray exorcists, Fallen Angels or Devils, even High-Class ones, have ever survived. The only reason we even know about him is because one of the Devils he killed survived long enough to warn us of him before succumbing to his wounds. He's the possessor of True Longinus, the strongest of the 13 Longinus Gears. Rumor has it that he is also in possession of a Holy Sword and a strange bow that can fire dozens of arrows of light in an instant. He's so dangerous that all Devils are warned to flee as fast as they can if they ever catch sight of him. That is the man who holds the title of 'The Church's Strongest Exorcist'." Rias explained, reciting the gist of the short report that was submitted about Kurosaki Ichigo.

"And that kind of crazy strong guy is coming here!?"

"Worry not. As long as you don't interfere or ally yourselves with the Kokabiel, we have no reason to attack you." Xenovia smiled, though no one was fooled, not even Issei. That was a clear warning: stay out of the way or you'll be killed.

The situation only continued to go downhill from there. Xenovia insulted Asia and was about to eliminate her when Issei and Yuuto intervened and challenged the two exorcists to a fight. As Rias watched the battle, she silently prayed to Satan that Kurosaki Ichigo didn't bring his mighty power down upon them.

* * *

A week after Xenovia and Irina arrived in Japan, halfway across the world, Ichigo sneezed as he woke up, sitting up in his bed while rubbing his tired eyes. It was about midnight, he fell asleep at 10pm, meaning he didn't get much sleep. The last mission, while not hard, was annoying. There was not just one chimera, there were three, and in addition to that, a minotaur and a ziz. It was a wonder that none of the local media had reported the sightings yet. It took him only a few minutes to kill the chimeras and the minotaur, but the ziz flew off at high speed, forcing him to spend three hours chasing the damn thing down. On top of that, the ziz had laid its eggs throughout Rome. Ichigo spent most of the week finding and smashing them, and making sure he didn't miss any. By the end of the mission, he was covered in filth, egg white and yolk, and very cranky. Everyone else wisely kept their distance, save Dulio and one other.

Walking groggily to the wardrobe, he threw on the only set of clothing inside: A jacket and jeans. He was already wearing a shirt and boxers when he went to sleep.

Ichigo had not changed much over the past four years. He was a bit taller, now at 6'2. His hair was longer, now resembling his hair style after his training for the Final Getsuga Tensho in the Dangai. He had gained a scar over his left shoulder, a memento of his battle against the traitor, 'Chaos Edge' Siegfried, the descendant of the legendary hero and the wielder of the five legendary Demonic Swords, Gram, Balmung, Nothung, Dainsleif and Tyrfing, all of which he had stolen when he betrayed the Church. Ichigo went after him and got the scar for his trouble, though he more than repaid Siegfried by cutting off his left arm and shattering Tyrfing and Dainsleif. Ichigo would have succeeded in apprehending him if one of Siegfried's new comrades, Arthur Pendragon, a descendant of King Arthur himself, appeared with Caliburn and Excalibur Ruler in hand and fled with Siegfried through a rip in space-time caused by Caliburn.

The biggest visible change was that he no longer scowled as much as before, something that could be attributed to his friendship with the carefree Dulio, and to the other occupant in his bed.

Ichigo looked down at the other person sleeping in the bed. A small, blonde girl. This was the newest member of his family, Kurosaki Saya, age 10. She didn't look anything like Ichigo, or the rest of his family for that matter. That was only natural, Saya was adopted after all. He flashed back to the day he first met Saya.

_(Flashback Start)_

_It had been six months since he arrived at the Vatican, and he was worked hard every day. That day, he was on a mission to wipe out a cult that worshipped the former Maous. The magicians in the cult were apparently contracted to the descendants of said former Maous. Ichigo was dressed in a tight, sleeveless body suit (Coatless Vergil's outfit from DMC 3 SE) and True Longinus was already in his right hand. He made his way through the deserted streets. Probably a spell the cultists cast to prevent themselves from drawing attention._

_Ichigo arrived at the abandoned building that intelligence had found out was the base of the cult. Silently sneaking in, careful not to draw attention to himself and casting a simple spell to render himself invisible and inaudible, Ichigo made his way up to the fifth floor. An eerie green glow dimly lit the floor, coming from a set of open doors. Ichigo pressed his back against the frame and peered in and felt his anger rise to the surface at what he saw._

_The bodies of two young boys, both blonde, lay on a magic circle engraved into the floor, blood pooling around them. And a small group of cultists, one holding a ceremonial knife to a little girl's throat. She also had the same shade of blonde hair as the two boys, and bright green eyes that were currently filled with fear and despair. Siblings, Ichigo realized._

"_Oh great Beelzebub, we now offer you the life of this virgin!__" The cultists holding the knife to the girl's throat prepared to slit her throat open and the girl's closed, bracing herself for her imminent death._

"_Like I'll let you!" Ichigo furiously thought, rushing in and stabbing True Longinus through the cultist's heart, causing to drop the girl and fall to the ground dead. The girl looked around in confusion as all hell broke loose, the cultists running around in a panic like headless chickens, allowing Ichigo to dispatch them with ease._

_With the cultists dead, Ichigo ended his spell, and the moment the girl caught sight of him and the bloodstained spear in his hand, she scrambled backwards, trying to get away from him. Ichigo smiled at her._

"_Don't worry, I'm not one of them.__" The girl didn't seem to understand what he was saying and continued to move away from him, her eyes wide with fear._

"_Doesn't she understand me?" Ichigo asked himself. He was pretty sure his Italian wasn;t that bad. He took a good look at her, and made some Japanese features, mostly her face. A half, perhaps. Ichigo tried again, this time in Japanese._

"_Don't worry, I'm not one of them." This time, the girl stopped and stared at him for a while._

"…_Really…?" He finally heard her say in Japanese. So his hunch was right._

"_Really. I was sent to stop them. I'm sorry I couldn't save your brothers." The girl started to sniffle and Ichigo gently hugged her to comfort her, making sure she didn't come in contact with the blood on him. After letting her cry on him for a bit, he gently let go of her._

"_What's your name?"_

"…_Saya."_

"_Alright, Saya. The proper authorities will be here soon to take you somewhere safe-" he didn't get a chance to finish as Saya wrapped her arms around his waist, refusing to let go._

"…_What's wrong?"_

"…_Please don't leave…" Saya looked up at him with pleading eyes. Ichigo flinched, he hated it whenever Yuzu pulled out those eyes on him, he could never refuse her when she did._

"_I have to go. I need to report to my superiors. I can take you to the police station, but that's it." The blood on him could easily be hidden with a spell._

"_Let me come with you." Saya begged him._

"_I can't do that. If you come with me, you'll be in danger all your life. Are you okay with that? If you go with the proper authorities, you'll be safe for the rest of your life."_

"…_I don't want to be alone." She said in a small voice, and Ichigo began to give in. He thought about it. She looked to be about six, so the worst years of upbringing were over. Michael gave him more allowance every month than he would ever spend, so it wasn't like he couldn't afford it._

"_Goat face will probably be overjoyed about the prospect of getting another daughter." Ichigo inwardly snorted. He looked down at Saya._

"…_Are you sure you want to come with me?"_

_She didn't answer, she simply nodded her head._

"_Alright, let's get out of here."_

_(Flashback End)_

He found out more about Saya. She was half Italian, half Japanese, born to a Japanese mother and an Italian father. Her parents had died in a car accident when she was 4, and none of her mother's relatives were willing to take her and her late brothers in. Apparently, they were a conservative family that didn't like the idea of half-bloods. So, they stayed with their uncle, their father's brother in Rome. But on the night, Ichigo met her, the cultists had invaded her home, killing her uncle and aunt and kidnapping her and her brothers, who were killed.

Ichigo called his father, who flew over on the pretext of attending a medical convention for a few days. Yuzu would probably freak if she found out. Isshin filed the paperwork, and Saya officially became Kurosaki Saya. Isshin had offered to take her back to Japan, but she was adamant about staying with Ichigo. Ichigo didn't really mind, his only concern was that when he was sent on missions, who would take care of her? That was quickly addressed when Dulio volunteered to watch her when he was out. Dulio convinced the Archbishop to not send them on overlapping missions, so that one of them would always be around to watch Saya.

The first few months were difficult to say the least. Saya kept having nightmares of that night and couldn't sleep at all, until Ichigo finally allowed her to sleep with him in his bed. She said she still had nightmares, but his warmth would keep her safe.

It took her a while to fully open up to them, but when she did, she was like a ray of sunshine, brightening their days with her cheerfulness.

Ichigo had detected strange reiatsu coming from her, one that was similar to True Longinus, but not exactly the same. Michael came to check and found that she had divine power in her, much more than could be explained. To prevent her from harming herself if she ever accidently tapped into that power, Ichigo used True Longinus to place a seal on her.

As expected, Yuzu did not take well to having a new little sister and had thrown a tantrum for a month, refusing to talk to him until she finally cracked, grudgingly accepting Saya as her new little sister. It was times like that that Ichigo really wished she was more open-minded like Karin, who had simply accepted it when she heard about it.

It wasn't just appearances that had changed. His powers were much stronger than before. That was what allowed him to claim the title of 'The Church's Strongest Exorcist' from Dulio. His mastery of True Longinus allowed him to vaporize High-Class Devils simply by stabbing them, no need to pour extra power in to do it. He found ways to use True Longinus's energy, such as molding into various weapons to use. His favorite was a long chain that could not be broken by anything less than Maou-level power. He used it to restrain his enemies so that he could quickly finish them off.

Two years ago, he also achieved Balance Breaker, though when Michael saw how much destruction he caused simply by activating it, he was forbidden to use it except in absolute emergencies.

He was also proud to say that he was no longer as rash as he was before. He didn't think he was a particularly good strategist, but he had graduated from blindly attacking the enemy to carefully planning the quickest way to win, with one or two backup plans. He wasn't stupid, he did graduate from St. Peter's International School as the valedictorian, after all.

During his training, a Holy Sword reacted to Ichigo, which led to him acquiring a new weapon, Claiomh Solais, a peculiar sword that grew in power in proportion to his skill with a sword. That somewhat made sense, its original wielder, Nuada, was said to have been able to cut anything with it. Needless to say, He and Claiomh Solais made for a very terrifying combo.

His progress in the usage of his Quincy powers was also going well. His Quincy Cross finally turned into a pentacle and Kojaku turned into Koku Kojaku (lit. Black Sparrow), a black metal bow. He couldn't fire as many arrows as Uryu could, but for what he lacked in quantity, he made up for in quality. His Heilig Pfeil were like bombs, exploding upon impact and he could fire up to 72 of them at once.

Speaking of Quincies, Ichigo wondered if he should start calling Uryu by his first name, and then snorted. Uryu would probably get an aneurysm if he did that.

Thinking of Uryu made him think of his friends. He missed them a lot. Skype was good and all, but there was nothing like seeing them in person. He couldn't say he had a lot of close friends in the Church. The only one he could confidently say was his friend was Dulio. The rest were, just as Michael predicted, a bunch of suck-ups.

Ichigo smiled though, tonight he would finally get to see his family and friends in person. He planned to go back to his hometown first before joining the two exorcists already sent there. They held out for a week without him, one more day wouldn't hurt.

He gently nudged Saya.

"Saya, wake up. We need to go to the airport, or we'll miss the flight."

"…Munyuu~" Saya wriggled within the blanket and sleepily opened her eyes.

"…Five more minutes, Onii-chan…" She snuggled into his side.

"No can do. The flight's at 1 and it's almost 12:20 now. We still need to check in and everything."

"…Carry me." Saya extended her arms towards him. Ichigo sighed in amusement and picked her up with one hand, allowing her to sit on his shoulder and rest her head on his. With his other hand, he pulled the luggage out of his room, and found Dulio waiting for him outside.

"You're leaving already?"

"The flight's in 40 minutes. What, you're going to miss me?"

"Heh, yeah, I probably will. It's been a lot more fun since you joined."

"Don't worry about it. I'll only be gone for a couple of days. I'll be back before you know it."

"Alright. Have fun in your home country, and don't forgot to buy me some food."

"Yeah yeah, you glutton." Patting Dulio on the shoulder, Ichigo exited the cathedral into the courtyard, where the same limo from four years ago was waiting. Ichigo smiled, he'd be back in Japan in a few hours.

* * *

It was a long 14-hour flight from Rome to Kyoto, but he did manage to get some sleep, so he did feel better. Ichigo hailed down a taxi and directed him to the train station, where he would take the train to Karakura. Saya was a little ball of energy. Having too young to recall anything about her time in Japan, everything here was a wonder to her. By the time they reached Karakura, it was already almost midnight in Japan. Standing outside the Kurosaki Clinic, Saya standing next to him, Ichigo experienced a nervousness he couldn't explain. Maybe it was anticipation? Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell. He didn't have a key with him, and the spare that was usually under the flower pot was missing.

The moment he rang the doorbell, he heard a loud thumping noise inside, and someone rushing to the door. The door swung open, and Yuzu was standing in the doorway, rooted to the spot and staring at him. He raised his hand in greeting.

"Yo, Yuzu. I'm home."

* * *

And that's the prologue done. Once I had the idea, I knew I had to write, resulting in this 12k words chapter typed out in 5 days. Next chapter is Ichigo vs Kokabiel.

Before anyone asks, Saya is the same Saya from the Blazblue franchise. Ragna and Jin are dead and will likely not play a part in the story. I didn't throw Saya in randomly, she'll play an important role in one of the future arcs, though I won't say which yet. Yes, she's in Ichigo's harem. There's only a 9 year difference in age, I've seen couples with bigger age gaps, and Ichigo is going to be near immortal anyway, plus they aren't blood related.

I haven't decided all the members of Ichigo's harem yet, the only confirmed ones are Saya, Rossweisse, Kuroka and Ophis. If you have any suggestions, just say so in your reviews. Just remember, the rest of Issei's harem are untouchable.

Yhwach appears to have some plans for Ichigo, which are critical to the Wandereich's success. That's the only explanation I can think of that explains why Yhwach didn't attack during the 17 months after Aizen's defeat.

St. Peter's International School does not exist in real life. It's just a school I made up so that Ichigo wouldn't to travel back and forth between cities.

On a side note, I've received many offers from fellow authors, offering to adopt Prince of Genocide and Infinite Dragon Emperor. I can't decide which one of them will do it, so you guys can decide that for yourselves.

Authors who want to adopt Prince of Genocide:

-Black Wolf 101

-NamikazeMinato Kiiroi Senko

-NaruKashi-kun

-johnljohnsibn

Authors who want to adopt Infinite Dragon Emperor:

-Toby860

-Tailsmo4ever

-AveCzar

-cronos2chaos

-johnljohnsibn

That's all for now. Next update will be the prologue of my new Infinite Stratos/Katekyo Hitman Reborn crossover, Summer Cloud.


	2. Life 1: Back in White

I'm back! This story seems quite popular.

To those who have misgivings about putting Saya in Ichigo's harem, don't worry. I'm perverted, but I'm not so perverted that I would have Ichigo get it on with someone half his size. Their relationship will develop as Saya grow, especially, during the arc where Saya plays a critical role, where their relationship will undergo heavy development.

Akuma-Heika: I never said that Houtengeki was replacing True Longinus, it's just that Cao Cao will be wielding Houtengeki in place of True Longinus. Houtengeki isn't a Sacred Gear, it's just a powerful weapon that has a few abilities.

Yes, I'm aware of that. But either a portion or all of it was passed down to Ichigo when he was born, thus Isshin was sealing Ichigo's Hollow powers until they overpowered the seal.

I haven't decided on that. It's not really that important since Ichigo wil regain his Shinigami powers later on.

Claiomh Solais is a sword that once belonged to Nuada, who is from the same mythology as Balor. I based its power on Campione, where Salvatore Doni gained an authority from Nuada that allows him to cut anything.

The start of the story is set 3 months after the end of the Aizen Incident, so everyone is ranging 19-20. Ichigo himself is 19 going on 20.

Saya, Ophis, Rossweisse and Kuroka are already in the harem. I'm considering adding Gabriel, Serafall and Yasaka, though I'm a bit hesitant about Gabriel since we don't really know much about her personality other than that she's a bit of an airhead. As for Bleach girls, I'm not sure, especially Orihime, since I prefer IshiHime rather than IchiHime. Xenovia originally took an interest in Issei because their child would possess powerful Dragon genes from Ddraige. On the other hand, what's sealed inside True Longinus is the will of God, which I'm pretty sure can't be passed down through genetics. The idea of having a child with Ichigo is tempting, but a child with Dragon genes is more tempting. I'm pretty sure Le Fay will be in Issei's harem, since she's a huge fan of Oppai Dragon and Issei's contracted magician. I'm not too sure about putting Yuzu and Karin in the harem though.

A Ziz in DxD canon doesn't appear to be as powerful as Behemoth or Leviathan from what I could tell, since it did show up during Serafall's movie shoot and no one bothered with it, plus they rescued Gasper from it without any problems. So at best, it's at the level of other mythical creatures.

Siegfried already had the title 'Chaos Edge Sieg' when he was still a part of the Church, so I assumed that the Church had originally secured the five Demonic Swords before they were stolen when he betrayed them.

They will be reforged by the time the Hero Faction makes an appearance.

Saya is Ichigo's adopted little sister. She can speak Italian, just not very well, since she was raised in Japan and was suddenly moved to Italy without any warning. She couldn't understand Ichigo because she was still scared out of her mind from watching the deaths of her uncle, aunt and brothers, but she could understand Ichigo when he spoke in Japanese because it was the more familiar language to her.

Yuzu is jealous of Saya because she thinks Saya is usurping her place in Ichigo's heart. She is somewhat correct.

I've thought of a new Sub-Species Balance Breaker for Ichigo. It will be making an appearance soon.

The reason Ichigo's grades never improved in canon was because his job as a Shinigami was unpredictable, as Hollows could pop up at any moment, even during school hours, and even then he still managed to claim one of the top positions in his year. Now, he has a more fixed schedule. School, then training and occasional missions, so he can make a more appropriate study strategy. Maybe valedictorian is a bit exaggerating, but he is easily one of the top students.

A Quincy Cross can evolve, I think. Uryu's Kojaku did change into a metal bow during the Soul Society arc after training with the Sanrei Glove and improving his reishi manipulation skills. The cross itself didn't change, but it proves that the bow can evolve.

Yhwach hasn't attacked yet. Like I said, in canon, he could have easily attacked during the 17 months timeskip, but actually waited for Ichigo to regain his powers before attacking, so I assume that Yhwach has plans for Ichigo that are critical to the Wandereich's success. What they are and whether I'll apply them in this story, I have no idea.

3master: Ichigo's Fullbring will most likely not make an appearance, since he already has other powers and has no need for such a weak one. Ginjo and the other Fullbringers will probably be making an appearance as antagonists though.

Imran102: So, basically, genderbend the Biblical God? An amusing idea, but not one I will implement yet until I've confirmed how involved I want to make the Biblical God in the story.

Grinja: He did kill Ginjo, but I see your point. Ichigo has matured quite a bit during his years as an exorcist and has seen the evils that not only human-looking beings commit, but the evils that even humans themselves can commit, so he's a bit more open-minded when it comes to killing.

On with the story!

* * *

"Oomph." Ichigo slumped into the living room couch, still worn out. An airplane seat wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to sleep, unless he was in first class, but of course, he wasn't that wasteful. A business class seat was plenty, though the occasional turbulence made relaxing difficult. Saya was curled up next to him like a cat, having apparently expended all of her energy in the cab ride. Yuzu was predictably bristling like a cat at her adopted little sister. Ichigo would have been amused if he wasn't dead tired.

His family and three friends were seated around him, wanting details about his four-year stay in Italy. Out of all of them, only his father's appearance hadn't changed.

Uryu had grown around 2-3 inches taller. His hair now hung mostly on the right side of his face, while the hair on the left was tucked behind his glasses, giving him a more mature look.

Chad hadn't changed much, since physically, he had already fully matured even before Ichigo had left. The only noticeable difference was that he now sported a goatee.

Orihime's hair had become fuller and wavier. She no longer wore her signature hair clips, clipping them on her shirt instead, and even then, her bangs naturally framed her face.

Yuzu and Karin had both gotten a bit taller. Yuzu had grown her hair to shoulder length, tied into two pigtails, with her old red hairclip hanging off the right pigtail. Karin had tied her hair into a short ponytail.

Their change in appearance was another reminder of just how long he had been away.

"So, how was Italy, Ichigo?" His father asked him.

"The scenery there is pretty nice, though it's not like I've had the time to admire it between school, training and missions."

"How was the food there?" Orihime asked.

"Pretty good. The pasta is top quality of course, and I've developed a taste for Aglio Olio."

"…What about the people there?" Chad asked.

"The ordinary people are pretty friendly, but the ones working for the Church are, as Michael-san predicted, a bunch of suck-ups. Well, except Dulio, and a few others."

"Dulio?"

"Yeah, he's the other Longinus possessor in the Heaven Faction. He's pretty strong, but Michael-san wasn't exaggerating when he said he was unmotivated. Dulio's as lazy as Kyoraku-san." Everyone, save Yuzu and Karin, who didn't know who Kyoraku-san was, stared at him incredulously, knowing just how lazy Kyoraku-san was.

Snapping out of it, Uryu asked, "How's your training coming along?"

"Pretty well." Ichigo summoned Koku Kojaku to prove his point.

"Oh? How many can you fire at once?" Uryu challenged him.

"…72." Ichigo admitted, and Uryu adopted a smug expression.

"Don't look so smug. I may not be able to fire many arrows at once, but my arrows have enough power to be comparable to a full power Getsuga Tensho in my Shikai." Uryu's smirked quickly and he paled as he imagined the power in one arrow. Ichigo grinned at Uryu's pale face. Uryu coughed.

"What about the rest of your powers?" He changed the subject in an effort to preserve his dignity.

"It'd be easier for me to show you. How about a spar?" Ichigo rose to his feet, but stumbled due to exhaustion.

"…Tomorrow."

"I'll uh…think about it." Uryu replied, unsure of whether or not he wanted to fight Ichigo.

"So, why are you back in Japan? Are you being assigned to a church here?" His father asked.

"Nope, I'm here on a top-priority mission."

"Really, what's going on?"

"Two weeks ago, three Excalibur fragments were stolen from the Vatican, Orthodox Church and Protestant Church. My mission is to retrieve them."

"Fragments?" Orihime asked.

"The original Excalibur was destroyed during the Great War. With alchemy, the pieces of the shattered Excalibur was reforged into seven swords that we call the Excalibur fragments."

"Who stole them?"

"One of the Fallen Angel leaders, Kokabiel." Hearing that, Isshin groaned.

"Great, the warmonger. You've got your work cut out for you."

"You know him?"

"I fought him before. I won, of course, but even after I beat the crap out of him, he still kept getting back up, demanding to continue. Eventually, I had to knock him out and leave before he regained consciousness."

Ichigo grimaced. So he had to fight yet another battle maniac.

"Since it was a Fallen Angel leader who stole the fragments, does this mean this move was sanctioned by Azazel?" Uryu asked.

"No, pretty much everyone agrees that this isn't Azazel's style. Most likely, Kokabiel's acting on his own."

"Damn Kokabiel, he must be trying to instigate another Great War." Isshin grumbled.

"Were you sent here alone?" Uryu asked.

"No, there are two other exorcists who were sent here a week ago. Both of them are Excalibur wielders. Xenovia, the wielder of Excalibur Destruction, and Shidou Irina, the wielder of Excalibur Mimic. Xenovia is also the wielder of Durandal."

"Do you know them?"

"Not very well. Xenovia is from the Vatican too, but since most of my time there was spent on training and missions, we haven't had much interaction. All I know is that she was raised from birth in the Church and therefore lacks a good deal of common sense. Irina is from the Protestant Church based in England, so I didn't meet her before the mission briefing. But their faith in God is very strong."

"That's pretty bad. Knowing Kokabiel, he'll probably reveal the death of God to them just to watch them despair." Isshin commented.

"Well, their orders are to locate Kokabiel, but not to engage him until I arrive, and they've held out for a week, so one more day wouldn't hurt."

"So, where are they?"

"They're in the next town. Intelligence says that's where Kokabiel is hiding out."

"The next town? If I'm not mistaken, that's where…"

"Yeah, it's where Sirzechs-san's little sister and the current Leviathan's little sister are."

"That settles it, Kokabiel is definitely trying to start another war, and those two are likely his target."

"Well, Kokabiel hasn't made a move yet, so hopefully, nothing happens until I get there."

*YAWN*

Ichigo let out a long yawn. He was completely exhausted and wanted nothing more than to take a bath and go to sleep.

"Sorry, but can we continue this conversation tomorrow? I really want to sleep."

"Ehhh!? But I want to talk with Onii-chan more!" Yuzu complained.

"There'll be plenty of time for that tomorrow. Besides, it's already past midnight. Don't you have school tomorrow?"

Yuzu's eyebrows shot up, as though she had just remembered.

"Now go to bed. I'm gonna do the same after I take a bath."

"Muu…" Yuzu pouted at him, but he was already desensitized to that after four years of living with Saya.

"Alright, we'll see you tomorrow." Uryu, Chad and Orihime showed themselves out.

"Alright, Saya, wake up. Time to take a bath."

"…Munyuu~" Saya just snuggled deeper into Ichigo's side, causing Yuzu to seethe.

"Good grief, you really are hopeless. Alright, let's take a bath together." Ichigo picked Saya up.

"Wait, what!?" Yuzu screamed.

"Hm? Like I said, since she's so sleepy, I'll have to take a bath with her so that she doesn't fall asleep in the tub or something."

"B-B-B-But that's so indecent!"

"…Didn't you and Karin used to take a bath with me too?"

"We stopped after age 6!"

"Saya's a kid, what could possibly happen?"

"Hmph, next you'll be telling me she's going to sleep with you too!" Yuzu huffed, crossed her arms and turned away.

"That's right, since she gets nightmares unless she sleeps with me."

"MUKYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Yuzu let out a scream and stomped upstairs. Ichigo and Isshin looked at each other.

"What's with her?" Ichigo asked in confusion. Ichigo had wondered for a second if she was jealous, and then dismissed the thought. Saya was another little sister, what was there to be jealous of? Bathing together wasn't a big deal, especially considering the age gap between Ichigo and Saya.

"No idea." Isshin shrugged. Behind them, Karin palmed her face and sighed.

"You two are so dense." She followed her twin sister upstairs.

Shrugging at each other, Ichigo and Isshin parted ways, Isshin heading towards his bedroom and Ichigo heading towards the bathroom with Saya after collecting a change of clothes for both of them from their luggage.

That night, all the members of the Kurosaki household slept peacefully…except for Yuzu, who stayed up most of the pressing a glass cup against Ichigo's door, trying to listen to whatever was going on inside.

* * *

"Fuwaaaaaaaaa…" Yuzu yawned as she served breakfast to her family. Everyone had already woken up. Yuzu and Karin were dressed in a sailor fuku, the standard uniform of Mashiba Middle School. Isshin had finished his breakfast in a hurry and rushed to his office to begin his work. Doctors were always busy, after all.

Ichigo introduced Yuzu and Karin to Saya, who took to them better than Yuzu did to her. Already, she was calling them 'Yuzu-nee' and 'Karin-nee'. Karin patted her head, but Yuzu just huffed and turned away, confusing Saya and causing Ichigo to scold her for her attitude, though it seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

"Did you stay up all night?" Ichigo asked as he ate his rice. Beside him, Saya was munching on a piece of buttered toast.

"I found her sleeping against your door with a glass cup in her hand this morning, so you can probably guess what she was doing." Karin commented as she ate her portion of the food. Ichigo deadpanned at Yuzu, who became flustered.

"W-What!? I was just making sure you weren't doing anything inappropriate!"

"It's nice to know you have such a high opinion of me."

"It's not you I'm worried about! It's her!"

"Saya's 10. What could she possibly do to me?"

"Onii-chan, what does 'inappropriate' mean?" Saya asked him as she looked at him innocently.

"It means things you shouldn't do."

"Oh. What kind of inappropriate things did Yuzu-nee think we were going to do?"

"Er…I'll tell you when you're older. Eat some of the fish. You're a growing girl, you should eat more." Ichigo changed the subject and offered her a piece of fish with his chopsticks. Saya happily ate it, leaving her saliva on the ends of the chopsticks.

"Ahhhh! Onii-chan, that's so unfair, only spoiling her!" Yuzu immediately objected.

"…You're 15 going on 16, aren't you? It's really sad if I have to tell you what to eat. Or if I have to feed you. And shouldn't you hurry? You two are gonna be late for school." Ichigo pointed with his thumb at the clock hanging on the wall. It read 8:05. Homeroom began at 8:30.

"Ack! We're gonna be late! Let's go, Karin-chan!" Yuzu dashed out of the house with a piece of toast in her mouth.

"Hey, Yuzu, you forgot your bag!" Karin ran after her twin with two school bags in hand. Ichigo shook his head in amusement.

"Those two haven't changed much in terms of personality."

"Ah, Rukia-nee! Long time no see!" Yuzu's voice was heard outside, and Ichigo sat up straight.

"Ah, Yuzu, it's been a long time. We heard that Ichigo had returned, so we came to see him. Is he inside?" Ichigo froze when he heard a voice he hadn't heard in four years.

"Yeah, he's eating breakfast."

"Okay, thanks." Ichigo's head swerved towards the door, just in time to see two familiar figures walk in through the doorway. A short, black-haired, violet-eyed girl and a tall, red-haired, brown-eyed man, both dressed in black kimonos. Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji, his closest friends in Soul Society. It had been Rukia who had changed his life forever on that fateful night four years ago, when he first became a Shinigami. Even now, long after he had lost his power, Rukia was a special person to him. More than friends, but less than lovers. Renji had initially been an enemy, but they had united for a common purpose: stop Rukia's execution. Even after Rukia had been saved, Rukia and Renji were always one of the first to aid Ichigo, during the Bount Conflict, the Bakotou Incident, the Zanpakutou Rebellion, the Hueco Mundo Invasion and the Reigai Incident.

Rukia hadn't changed much, she was still as short as ever, but the sleeves of her Shihakusho were now shorter, now only extending to above her elbows. Her hair was also shorter, now cropped into a bob hanging around her face. She was wearing fingerless white tekkos, similar to Byakuya's, that extended to above her elbows. The most obvious change was the large Lieutenant's badge tied around her left arm.

Renji had grown a bit taller. His hair was longer and his white headband had been switched for a maroon one that did a good job of hiding his tattoos. His body had gotten a bit more muscular, but there was otherwise no change from four years ago.

"Rukia, Renji. Long time no see."

"Yeah, it's been a long time, Ichigo. You look well." Rukia smiled. Renji raised his hand in greeting.

"You been keeping up with your training?"

"Of course, if you want, how about a spar at Urahara-san's place later?"

"Ho, you sound pretty confident. I haven't been slacking off for the past four years either, you know?"

"Bring it on. No restrictions. Let's let loose like we used to."

"Alright then, let's go-"

*GURGLE*

A loud growling noise cut him off. Ichigo blinked and then deadpanned at him.

"You didn't eat breakfast?"

Renji turned red.

"Shut up!"

*GURGLE*

Another growling noise, slightly quieter interrupted them. Both of them turned to stare at Rukia, who also turned red.

"W-We heard you came back, so we rushed here without eating breakfast!"

"…" Ichigo was honestly touched.

"Pull up a chair, there's still plenty of food left."

Renji sat down opposite Ichigo, and Rukia sat down next to Saya, noticing her for the first time.

"Oh, who's this little one?"

"I'm Saya!"

"She's my adopted little sister."

"Oh, your father mentioned her. Hi, Saya, we're your brother's friends. Do you want to hear about when I first met your brother?"

"Okay!"

"Well, it was about four years ago, I was sent here to hunt a monster…" Rukia started cooing over Saya and telling her about their adventures. Ichigo and Renji shook their heads. Rukia was a sucker for anything or anyone cute.

The three friends, reunited after four years, took turns regaling each other with tales of what had been going on in the past four years. This, Ichigo realized, was what he had missed most about home.

* * *

"Oh, Kurosaki-san! I heard that you were back in Japan. Oh, and Kuchiki-san and Abarai-san are with you. And this little one must be your new little sister!" Kisuke enthusiastically greeted the four as they walked into his shop. Ichigo had changed into his body suit in preparation for the spar.

"Urahara-san, long time no see. Where's everyone else?"

"Oh, Jinta and Ururu are at school, Yoruichi-san is in Soul Society and Tessai-san is out running an errand for me. Ririn, Kurodo and Noba are around here somewhere. Now, is there a reason you came to visit? I imagine it isn't just to greet your old teacher."

"Yeah, Renji and I want to spar, so we want to use your training ground."

"Of course, no problem. The entrance is in the same place."

"Thanks. Rukia, can you look after Saya while we spar?"

"Sure. Saya, let's go outside. I'll tell you more stories about your brother."

"Okay!" Saya followed Rukia out the door.

"Don't tell her anything weird! And if she becomes as Chappy-obsessed as you are, I will hurt you!" Ichigo called out after them. He didn't hear a reply or an indignant squawk from Rukia, so he wondered briefly if she heard him.

"You coming or what?" Renji called. Ichigo turned to see Renji already climbing down the ladder. Eager to begin the spar, Ichigo followed him.

The training ground hadn't changed much. The crater he had made the last time he was here had been filled up, and there were a few more cliffs than he remembered.

"You sure you want to fight? Don't forget, your body is weaker than your spirit form." Renji asked as he moved to stand a distance away from Ichigo.

"Don't worry about me. You should be worrying more about yourself, after I kick your ass." Ichigo taunted him and summoned a golden western sword into his hand.

"Well, if you're that confident. Just don't cry when you get beaten." Renji unsheathed his Zanpakutou.

Both of them entered a stance and calmly watched the other. Then, at the same time, both moved towards each other with their respective speed techniques. Sparks flew as the two sword clashed. Ichigo and Renji fought to push the other away, but Renji, being in his spirit form, was clearly superior in terms of physical strength. Slowly, Ichigo was being pushed back.

Thinking quickly, Ichigo turned his body, moving to Renji's side. Renji fell forward as Ichigo brought down the hilt of his sword, aiming for Renji's back. Renji stopped his fall by placing his hand on the ground and pushed himself back, barely dodging Ichigo's attack.

Quickly recovering, Renji moved close to Ichigo with Shunpo and struck him in his stomach with Zabimaru's hilt. Ichigo was sent flying straight into a cliff. Having activated Blut Vene right before the impact, Ichigo had not taken much damage, but pain of the impact coursed through his body, making it hard for him to concentrate. He had to admit, Renji was way stronger than before.

Shaking off his dizziness, Ichigo dashed at Renji with Hirenkyaku and swung his sword at his side. Renji parried with Zabimaru but was caught off guard by a Blut Arterie-augmented punch. Not giving him time to recover from the pain, Ichigo kicked him in the stomach, sending him sprawling to the ground. Both of them fell back, still reeling from the pain of each other's attacks.

"Tch…Not bad, you're better than I expected." Renji panted.

"Heh…You too, you weren't kidding when you said you've been training for the past four years." Ichigo returned. Both of them regulated their breathing as the pain faded.

"Well then, it's time to get a bit more serious." Renji held up Zabimaru and placed his hand at the tsuba. Ichigo tensed and prepared to block the imminent attack.

"Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji swept his hand along the blade and the blade grew wider and segmented with pick-like protrusions growing out of each segment. Renji swung the blade in Ichigo's direction. The blade extended towards him fast and Ichigo parried it with his sword. He attempted to move closer, but was stopped when he was forced to block Zabimaru again when Renji whipped it back at him after he had parried it.

"Alright, I've got this. Three times and he has to retract the blade, which means after the next attack, I can move in." Ichigo thought to himself, remembering his battle against Renji four years ago.

Renji whipped the blade at him again. Ichigo knocked it aside and charged in, but was surprised when he felt his back being cut. Blood poured out of the wound as Ichigo barely blocked a fifth attack coming from above.

"First blood goes to me." Renji commented as he retracted Zabimaru's blade.

"…I was under the impression you could only swing your extended blade three times before you had to retract it."

"For the past four years, I've been training to be able to fight on Aizen's level. I'm nowhere close yet, but I'm much stronger than I was four years ago. Right now, I can defeat Yammy Rialgo on my own at my full power." Ichigo felt some sweat rolling down his face, and he didn't think it was because of physical exertion.

"…_Just now, he retracted the blade after attacking 5 times, but it'd be foolish to assume that that was the limit. If I want to get in close, I'll have to keep Blut Vene up at all times." _Ichigo calmly analyzed the situation, ignoring the wound on his back.

Ichigo activated Blut Vene and charged in. Renji swung his blade at him and was shocked when it bounced off of Ichigo without leaving so much as a scratch. By the time Renji recovered from his shock, Ichigo was already in front of him. Ichigo swung his sword at Renji, who tried to block with Zabimaru, and was successful, but Zabimaru was knocked out of his hand by the force of the attack. As Renji stumbled backwards, Ichigo got into a martial arts stance and launched himself forward and nailed Renji in the chest with a fist.

*CRACK*

An audible cracking sound resounded through the training ground. Renji's rib cage had been cracked and he was sent flying, gasping for air. Renji shakily rose to his feet while coughing up small amounts of blood.

"…Martial Arts?"

"Yeah, this is Bajiquan. It's a Chinese martial art that is well known for its explosive power at close range. The move I just used on you is part of one of the variations called Eight Postures of the Buddha Guards. It allows me to unleash a heavy punch that can easily break bones. I usually use it in conjunction with Blut Arterie to pulverize my opponent's internal organs. Don't worry though, I held back, so the injuries are still quite light."

"That was light? Good grief, I felt like my lungs were being blended."

"Just like you, I haven't been taking my training lightly for the past four years. You wanna surrender yet?"

"Heh, not even close!" Renji charged in, swinging his arm downwards for an overhead strike. This momentarily confused Ichigo, there was no precision, force or technique behind that attack as far as he could tell. He caught the elbow overhead without any effort and slammed his elbow into Renji's stomach.

Or he thought. Renji did react, just not in the way he expected. Instead of reeling from the pain, Renji grinned. Ichigo was confused, until he looked down. Renji had caught his elbow with his other hand. That was when Ichigo realized he had fallen into a trap. Thinking fast, he kicked Renji off his feet, but was just a second too late. A ball of yellow lightning was already crackling in Renji's hand.

"Hado 63 – Raikouhou!" A blast of yellow lightning struck him at close range and it was only thanks to Blut Vene that Ichigo's body wasn't disintegrated from the power of the Kido. As it was, Ichigo's suit was destroyed from the waist up and his torso was covered in light burns. Ichigo fell back and fell to a knee, pain wracking his body.

"Jeez, you even trained in Kido?"

"Of course. Kido is my weakness after all. It's only natural that I spent time training in it. I'm no master, but I can cast high-level Kido without any problem." Renji shunpoed over to the fallen Zabimaru and picked it up.

Ichigo considered his options. After seeing his Bajiquan once, Renji wouldn't fall for it again. Renji had long range Hado to keep him at bay even when he retracted Zabimaru, and now Renji knew that his Blut Vene wasn't yet strong enough to completely negate high level Kido at close range. He didn't think Renji would go as far as to use Level 90 Hados in a spar, but any below that was fair game. The odds weren't looking too good for him the way he was right now. Which meant that…

"It's time to get more serious." Ichigo held up his sword, which was slowly being enveloped in a holy aura. Not wanting to take any chances, Renji fired another Hado at Ichigo.

"Hado 73 – Soren Sokatsui!" Two blue fireballs rapidly flew at him. Ichigo calmly swung his sword in their direction. The next instant, the fireballs were destroyed.

"Wha-!?"

"You don't have time to be surprised!" Ichigo charged at him.

"Hado 58 – Tenran!" Renji held out his free hand in front of him. A vortex of wind erupted from his palm, blowing at Ichigo, who was halted in his tracks and pushed backwards. Ichigo clicked his tongue and slashed the vortex apart with his glowing sword.

"How are you doing that!?" Renji yelled as he fell back and swung Zabimaru's extended blade at Ichigo. Stepping to the side, Ichigo caught Zabimaru's blade as it passed him, his Blut Vene preventing him from being injured.

"It's the power of this Holy Sword, Claiomh Solais. Its power increases in proportion to its wielder's skill with a sword. I've been holding back its power up until now, but it looks like anything less than this won't reach you." Finishing his explanation, Ichigo swung Claiomh Solais down on Zabimaru, smashing the blade into pieces.

"Shit!" Renji retracted the broken Zabimaru that had less than half of the blade left. He looked up to find Ichigo already in front of him with Claiomh Solais raised above his head. He swung it down as Renji raised the broken Zabimaru to block it. Claiomh Solais sliced through the remnants of Zabimaru's blade like butter and the tip slashed Renji's torso, leaving a gash. As Renji recoiled from the destruction of his Zanpakutou and the pain, Ichigo kicked him in the gut, sending him back, right into a cliff, kicking up a dust cloud that hindered Ichigo's sight.

For a few moments, everything was quiet and Ichigo wondered if he had overdone it. Then, he heard the sound of metal clattering around him. He looked around to see the fragments of the broken Zabimaru vibrating on the ground, red reiatsu rolling off of them. He recalled the last time he had seen his phenomenon and paled.

"Is he fucking crazy!?" Ichigo yelled as he moved as far back as he could with Hirenkyaku. The fragments began floating in the air. The moment he had passed the last fragment of Zabimaru that was behind him, he heard Renji yelling.

"Higa Zekko!" The floating fragments shot towards him with incredible speed, but Ichigo was prepared and summoned Koku Kojaku in his left hand.

"It's a good thing I moved back this far. If those fragments had surrounded me, there wouldn't have been a way for me to evade all of them. But since all of them are coming from the front…" Ichigo raised his bow and immediately, dozens of arrows shot out and smashed into each fragment.

"…I can easily shoot them all down."

"Bankai!" Ichigo froze the moment he heard that dreaded word. The smoke that had been obscuring Renji from his sight suddenly started spinning, forming a rapidly rotating column of smoke. The smoke suddenly dispersed, revealing Renji with a fur cowl on his shoulder that was also adorned with a baboon skull. Zabimaru had transformed from a broken blade into a giant segmented, skeletal snake with a red mane.

"Hihio Zabimaru."

"You're seriously using Higa Zekko and Bankai for a spar?"

"This is a chance for both of us to show off the fruits of our training! Come at me with everything you have, Ichigo!"

"As you wish!" Ichigo charged forward as Renji swung the handle of Hihio Zabimaru. The snake surged forward with incredible speed, its jaws wide open, as though it was dead set on devouring Ichigo. Ichigo jumped and Hihio Zabimau passed below him. Ichigo flipped in midair and struck one of Hihio Zabimaru's segments with Claiomh Solais. But it left was a small scratch. Ichigo clicked his tongue and landed on his feet. He jumped into the air again as Hihio Zabimaru's head crashed into the spot that he had just vacated. He landed on top of Hihio Zabimaru's head and slashed down again, this time exerting his full power and increasing Claiomh Solais's power even further. The result wasn't much better, a small crack was all he had managed. Ichigo jumped off as Hihio Zabimaru began to coil itself in an effort to pin him.

"_If it was the Hihio Zabimaru of four years ago, Claiomh Solais would have been able to cut through a segment without any problem. Now even at full power, that tiny crack was all I could do. I have to hand it to Renji, his training really paid off."_ Ichigo thought to himself as he evaded Renji's attacks.

"_This is bad. I can't defeat Hihio Zabimaru in a direct confrontation, even with True Longinus, not without causing catastrophic damage to the whole town. Balance Breaker is definitely out, that's even worse. Besides, Michael-san forbade me from using it anyway. My other trump cards are too dangerous to be used in a spar, and my Heilig Pfeils won't even scratch it. Hmm…how did Byakuya defeat Renji four years ago?"_

Ichigo was cut off from his thoughts when one of Hihio Zabimaru's pick-like protrusions left a gash along his arm as it passed him. Ichigo retreated, using Hirenkyaku to reach the top of a nearby cliff, granting him a brief respite.

"_Let's see…According to Renji, Byakuya obliterated Hihio Zabimaru with his own Bankai, but before that…That's right, he used a Hado to disrupt Hihio Zabimaru's rhythm. A Bankai is essentially a massive increase in a Zanpakutou's power, and thus training is required to master such a huge weapon. Well, except for my Tensa Zangetsu, since it was a compression type Bankai. Hmm…it's supposed to take at least a decade of training to fully master a Bankai. It's only been four years, but Renji has plenty of talent, so he could probably manage it in less. Still, it should be possible to disrupt it, but it's unlikely pulling a trick like Byakuya did four years ago will do anything."_

"You done thinking yet?" Ichigo was broken out of his thoughts when Hihio Zabimaru crashed into the cliff he was standing on, He used Hirenkyaku to retreat as far back as he could, but the damn snake kept lengthening itself by separating its segments while still staying connected with Renji's reiryoku. If only the damn thing wasn't segmented!

Segmented…Segments…The segments! That was it! If he could disrupt the reiryoku connecting the segments…!

But how? Ichigo thought of any possible ideas.

…What if he inserted his own reiryoku into the connections? That could work, if he inserted varying amounts of reiryoku into the connections, Hihio Zabimaru would become unstable.

But the current problem was that Hihio Zabimaru was moving too fast. Left with no other options, Ichigo dismissed Claiomh Solais and summoned True Longinus. The legendary golden spear seemed to shimmer as it became tangible.

Ichigo pointed the tip at Hihio Zabimaru and released a powerful energy blast that knocked it back and kicked up a lot of dust. This was the perfect cover. Ichigo created his favorite chains and tied one chain to one segment and throwing the other end of each chain into either a cliff wall or the ground. This reminded him a bit of Gulliver's Travels, where the protagonist was tied down to the ground by bite-sized humans. Soon, a good number of the segments was fixed into place and Hihio Zabimaru was rendered immobile. He could hear Renji crying out in confusion when he couldn't get his Bankai to move. Acting fast as Renji could catch on at any moment, Ichigo jammed True Longinus in between the segments and pumped reiryoku into the connections. He repeated the process with the other segments with varying amounts of reiryoku until he felt that he had done enough.

To cover up what he had done, Ichigo burst out of the dust cloud and thrust True Longinus at Renji who blocked with Hihio Zabimaru's handle. Ichigo leapt backwards and fired another energy blast at Renji, who held his free hand up.

"Bakudo 81 – Danku!" A transparent barrier appeared and took the brunt of the blast, shattering but managing to negate the blast. Ichigo moved backwards and subtly dismissed the chains holding Hihio Zabimaru in place.

Renji swung Hihio Zabimaru and was shocked when his Bankai didn't respond the way he wanted it to. Instead of moving towards Ichigo, the segments started moving in different directions before the connections shattered and the segments flew off in every direction. Renji looked at the handle of Hihio Zabimaru, the only piece of his Bankai he hadn't lost control of.

"I have no idea what you did, but good job. You completely messed up the rhythm of my Bankai. But don't think the battle is over yet!" Renji raised the handle and immediately, the segments of Hihio Zabimaru flew back, connecting one by one to the handle and ending with the head, which hissed at him. But Ichigo noticed that the snake was shorter than before. Did some of the segments fly out of the range of Renji's reconnecting technique?

"Let's go, Ichigo!" Renji swung the shortened Hihio Zabimaru at Ichigo. Ichigo braced himself for the impact by activating Blut Vene and powering it as much as he could. The jaws of Hihio Zabimaru closed around him, and it was everything Ichigo could do, even after switching to Blut Arterie, to stop the jaws from closing completely. His arms were holding up the upper jaw and his feet were placed firmly on the lower jaw, keeping both apart. He removed his right hand from the upper jaw and was almost crushed as the jaws grew closer to each other. He pointed True Longinus at what appeared to be a skeletal gullet and fired an energy blast. The resulting explosion broke Hihio Zabimaru's head and left more than a few cracks in the adjacent segments. The upper jaw and lower jaw were knocked apart, flying off in different directions. Ichigo leapt back, his body smoking due to his proximity to the explosion.

Recovering quickly, Ichigo leapt back onto Hihio Zabimaru's body and ran along its length towards Renji, who was recalling Hihio Zabimaru's head. Reni caught sight of Ichigo rushing at him and raised a hand in time to catch Ichigo's knee that had been aimed for his head. Renji was pushed back a fair distance from the force of the kick that would have given him a terrible concussion if it had connected with his head.

"This is Muay Thai! And this…!" Ichigo shouted as he kicked off Renji's shoulder, knocking his makeshift foothold off balance, and flipped in midair, now descending rapidly with a leg outstretched, now going for an axe kick aimed at Renji's head.

"…is Karate!" He finished. But, he was surprised when Hihio Zabimaru's head intercepted the attack. His kick struck Hihio Zabimaru head on, but didn't even faze it. That was natural, his target had been Renji's head, so he hadn't activated Blut Arterie.

*CRACK*

"Fuck!" Ichigo cursed when he felt a bone in his leg crack. He landed on the ground, taking care not to put too much weight on his injured leg. Great, now his mobility had been reduced as well. Ichigo slowly moved his leg to assess the extent of the injury. It wasn't too bad, he could still use Hirenkyaku, but vertical ascents were no longer possible.

Ichigo looked up to see Hihio Zabimaru once again closing in on him. Thinking fast, he summoned Koku Kojaku and fired dozens of Heilig Pfeils into Hihio Zabimaru's mouth. It wasn't able to knock them apart like True Longinus did, but it stopped it dead in its tracks as the recoil of the ensuing explosions prevented it from advancing. Ichigo poured reiryoku into True Longinus which started glowing brightly. He threw the spear into Hihio Zabimaru's mouth. The spear flew through the segments before releasing a huge burst of holy energy at the center of Hihio Zabimaru, causing the adjacent segments to shatter and Hihio Zabimaru itself to break itself up into its remaining segments again and fly off in different directions. Ichigo recalled True Longinus and dropped to a knee, breathing heavily.

"This is going nowhere. We're about evenly matched right now. How about we end this with the next blow?" Renji suggested, his breathing becoming ragged as he expended more and more reiryoku to reattach Hihio Zabimaru together. Ichigo was in a similar state, having used a fair bit of reiryoku in the blast just now. He had plenty more, but using so many powerful attacks at once was beginning to strain his human body.

"Agreed. My body isn't going to last much longer anyway." Renji held up the handle of Hihio Zabimaru, preparing for a final attack. Ichigo dismissed Koku Kojaku and got into a Soujutsu stance, preparing for a thrust.

Red reiryoku started gathering in Hihio Zabimaru's mouth while golden reiryoku manifested around the tip of True Longinus, forming a giant ethereal spear head.

Renji swung Hihio Zabimaru's handle at the same time that Ichigo thrust True Longinus forward.

"Hikotsu Taiho!" A gigantic red beam shot out of Hihio Zabimaru's mouth. It collided with the giant spear head and both attacks fought to overpower the other. The energy being released in the collision was slowly breaking the training ground apart. Cracks appeared on the ground and several cliffs began to crumble. Soon, the entire training ground was trembling and Ichigo had no doubt that the rest of Karakura could feel the tremors too.

After a few moments when both attacks showed no signs of faltering, Ichigo began to grow worried. Who knows what was happening at the surface. Of course, he could surrender and end the spar before any more damage was done to the surface world, but his pride would not allow him to back down from the challenge. And he knew that Renji was just as prideful. Still, if they didn't do something soon, Karakura might crumble.

Ichigo briefly considered pouring more energy into his attack, but dismissed the idea immediately. No doubt, he could overpower Hikotsu Taiho, but it would probably kill Renji too, not to mention deal catastrophic levels of damage to Karakura.

Just as Ichigo was about to swallow his pride and surrender, they were interrupted.

"Kurosaki-san! Abarai-san!" They barely heard Urahara calling them over the din that their attacks were making. Both of them were surprised and cancelled their attacks. Urahara was descending the ladder.

"Geez, you two! You were really shaking things up! My shop is a mess and the whole of Karakura is in a panic because they think it's an earthquake!" Urahara scolded the two, who adopted sheepish looks.

"Anyway, that's not why I stopped you two. Kurosaki-san, your cellphone started ringing just now."

"A call? Who is it?"

"Well, I couldn't hear what they were saying over the racket you two were making, but it sounds urgent." Urahara passed Ichigo's cellphone to him. Ichigo brought the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Senpai, it's an emergency!" A female voice cried over the phone causing Ichigo to wince.

"Xenovia? What, did you and Irina run out of money already?" Ichigo smirked at his little joke.

"…"

Ichigo's smirk faded when he didn't receive an answer.

"…Tell me you aren't serious." Ichigo palmed his face in exasperation and sighed.

"It was Irina's fault! And that's not why I called you! An hour ago, we finally located Kokabiel's base by following one of the Stray Priests under his command, but he found and attacked us. I managed to get away, but Irina was defeated and Excalibur Mimic was stolen. It looks like he's already making his move!" Xenovia explained the situation to Ichigo.

Ichigo immediately became serious.

"Got it. If he makes his move before I get there, stall him until I arrive. I'll take him on myself."

"Okay, but please hurry!" Ichigo hung up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Is it bad?" Urahara asked his old student.

"Pretty bad. Kokabiel's making his move. Time for me to make mine."

"Want Rukia and I to come with you?" Renji asked him. Ichigo thought about it. It'd be nice to have some backup, but the repercussions were too great.

"…No, it'd be better if you didn't. This is something I learned in my time at the Church, but most of the Factions in the world are terrified of Soul Society."

"Why's that?"

"The old man. At his full power, he can match even the legendary Heavenly Dragons that even Gods fear. If a Shinigami interferes in the affairs of a Faction that they aren't affiliated with, the other Factions will probably take it as an act of aggression, and they may band together against Soul Society. Soul Society can't afford that right now, can it? You're probably still recovering from the whole Aizen affair."

Renji grimaced in response and nodded.

"You're right. Most of the ranks are still afraid that one of the Captains will go nuts and betray Soul Society like Aizen did. Plus, we're still rooting out the Aizen supporters among us. Bastard was a good teacher if nothing else, they leave almost no trace of their activity behind. They've been a major pain in the ass, destroying parts of Seireitei, inciting dissent among the Rukongai citizens, hell, some of them were crazy enough to try and break Aizen out of his prison. Those were the only ones we managed to catch so far."

"Tch, even now, the bastard's still causing trouble for us. Whatever, report to the old man that Kokabiel is going to attack the real world, but not to interfere. Oh, but it's okay to observe though."

"Got it." Renji deactivated his Bankai. The colossal snake reverted back to a katana that Renji turned in midair. A set of shoji doors appeared and opened, allowing Renji to pass through.

"Kurosaki-san, are you leaving now?"

"Duh, I have to get there before Kokabiel pulls something that can't be undone."

"In your current state?" Urahara questioned him, pointing out Ichigi's state of dress. The top half of his body suit was obliterated and the lower half was torn in several places. Not to mention the wounds covering his body. He wondered how a spar could get so out of hand.

"…Shit. I better call Inoue." Ichigo dialed Inoue's number and asked her to come over. He was surprised when she dropped down the ladder as soon as he hung up, Uryu and Chad in tow. It seemed that they were already outside the shop when he called, investigating the source of the tremors. They gaped when they saw the destruction dealt to the training ground. Inoue rushed forward to heal Ichigo's wounds.

"Souten Kisshun, I reject!" Two balls of light emerged from her hairpins and formed a barrier around Ichigo. His burns quickly faded away and his body suit was restored.

"What on earth were you doing that caused this level of destruction?" Uryu asked Ichigo as he stared at him incredulously. Ichigo turned his head.

"…I was sparring with Renji. We…took things a bit too far."

Uryu rolled his eyes in response.

Orihime finished healing him. Ichigo prepared to leave.

"Oh, I better message Michael-san to let him know what's going on." Ichigo typed a message explaining the situation, keyed in a long and seemingly nonsensical sequence of numbers in the address. This was actually a number to reach Michael-san directly. In the whole Church, only he and Dulio knew this number, since everyone else would have called him all the time just to hear his voice and spammed his inbox with weird prayers and the like. The Church was filled with weirdoes like that.

"What IS going on?" Uryu asked.

"Kokabiel's made his move. I'm going to confront him. Urahara-san, can you tell my dad to tell Sirzechs-san what's going on? Since Sirzechs-san's little sister is probably involved, he should know. Oh, and could you also ask Rukia to babysit Saya until I come back."

"I understand. Excuse me." Urahara climbed up the ladder to make the call.

"Now, if only there was a way to contact Azazel as well…"

"No need, I'm already here." A new voice cut in. Azazel flew down from the shop above, his twelve black feathered wings fully expanded.

"How long have you been here?"

"I heard you were back in Japan, so I came to see how far you've progressed. Geez, I could feel the tremors even outside the town, not to mention the ridiculous levels of energy coming from here." Azazel joked, then grew serious.

"So I take it that Kokabiel is about to attack?"

"Yeah, I'm going over to the next town now. You coming?"

"Let's take the teleportation circle, it's a lot faster."

"Kurosaki, do you want us to come too?" Uryu asked and Ichigo thought about it. His friends weren't officially affiliated with Soul Society, and it was obvious from the conversation he had with Xenovia that Kokabiel had at least one subordinate with him. To defeat Kokabiel, he had to fully concentrate on him. It would be nice to have backup. Azazel seemed to be more of the observer type than anything else.

"Yeah, I could use some help."

"Alright then, everyone gather around me." The four walked to Azazel who created a magic circle on the ground beneath them.

"Oh, when we get there, could you wait before you join the battle? There's something I want to see."

"…You mean the Sekiryuutei?"

"Oh, you heard about that?"

"Only rumors that the current Sekiryuutei had joined the Devils."

"Who is this Sekiryuutei?" Uryu asked.

"It's what we call the wielder of Boosted Gear. Likewise, the wielder of Divine Dividing is called the Hakuryuukou."

"Boosted Gear? If I recall correctly, that's…"

"Yeah, a Mid-Tier Longinus. So the rumors are true?"

"That's right. I want to see him in action myself. You don't mind, right?"

"…If the situation deteriorates too much, I'm stepping in."

"Got it. Thanks." Azazel activated the magic circle and the five disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

Rias Gremory was in a major pinch. She and her peerage, plus Xenovia, had confronted Kokabiel, Freed Zelzan, a bloodthirsty Stray Priest that was wielding a bastardized Excalibur fused from Mimic, Rapidly, Nightmare and Transparency, and Balba Galilei, the Genocide Archbishop and the man behind the Holy Sword Project, of which Yuuto was the only survivor. Yuuto had achieved his Balance Breaker and defeated Freed with Xenovia's help, thereby settling his grudge against Excalibur. Balba Galilei had been killed, albeit by Kokabiel.

The odds were pretty good at the time, but then they learned the hard way why Kokabiel was a Fallen Angel leader. Kokabiel descended from his floating throne and personally fought them. Even with Issei's transfer ability, she and Akeno couldn't so much as scratch him. Koneko was defeated in an instant and lay badly wounded on the ground. Even Yuuto with his new Balance Breaker and Xenovia with Durandal working together only allowed them to lightly cut Kokabiel's cheek.

Worse, Kokabiel revealed God's death, and Asia lost consciousness from shock and Xenovia lost her will to fight. Both had been strong believers in God after all. Even she herself couldn't believe what she had heard.

Then, Issei powered up after getting some 'motivation', and for a moment, it seemed, no matter how improbable, that they finally had a chance of winning. Issei had smashed spear after spear of light Kokabiel had tossed at him and actually bruised Kokabiel with his punches. But their hope was cruelly crushed when Issei was grazed by a sword of light and promptly lost his power boost.

The situation was utterly hopeless. None of them had the strength to fight Kokabiel, and the Earth Shattering spell that Kokabiel and Balba had cast earlier would activate in 10 minutes, destroying the town and all of the residents, including her, Sona and their respective peerages. They had failed. Kokabiel would have his way. Another Great War would soon begin and the future of the Three Factions became unclear, all because she wasn't strong enough to win.

"You've all fought well, but it's the end for you. I'll have you go to sleep for the rest of eternity. You won't have to watch your kin get slaughtered by us in the new war." Kokabiel taunted her and created a giant spear of light, one that undoubtedly had enough power to kill of them at once and shatter the barrier that Sona and her peerage was maintaining around the school. This was bad, she didn't even have enough strength to raise a barrier to stop the spear. Rias felt fear rising in her body, permeating every cell in her being.

"Farewell, Rias Gremory. I'll have plenty of fun fighting your brother once he hears that I killed you." Kokabiel casually tossed the spear at them, and Rias squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for her impending doom.

*SHATTER*

Then, a strange sound entered her ears. It was akin to the sound of glass shattering, but it was really close, like just in front of her.

"What!?" Then, she heard Kokabiel's voice, tinged in disbelief.

Rias blinked and looked up to see an orange haired man in a male version of the Church's battle suit, standing above her. The giant spear that had been aimed for them had disappeared.

"…You shattered my spear barehanded. Who are you?" Kokabiel asked the man.

What!? This man shattered Kokabiel's spear of light with just his bare hand!? Kokabiel probably wasn't being serious, but that spear undoubtedly had the power of an Ultimate-Class Devil in it!

"Senpai!" Xenovia cried out in surprise.

"Yo, Xenovia. Sorry I'm late."

"Senpai, you have to hurry! Kokabiel…!"

"I know. He cast an Earth Shattering spell that will activate in 10 minutes. I was watching from the beginning, but I was a bit curious about the rumored Sekiryuutei, so I decided to hang back. Sorry about that."

Xenovia had addressed the man as 'Senpai', which meant that this could only be…

"…Kurosaki Ichigo." Rias whispered to herself.

This was the Church's Strongest Exorcist? He looked much younger than she had imagined. But, she could feel the power practically rolling off of him in waves. He could rival an Ultimate-Class Devil in terms of power from what she could sense.

"Ho, Michael must be desperate to stop if he sent the True Longinus wielder after me. So, where is said Longinus?" Kokabiel asked.

"I don't need it yet. You haven't gotten serious either, have you?" Kurosaki Ichigo answered. Kokabiel's eyes narrowed.

"I see…I'd like to see that famed power of yours for myself, so why don't you entertain yourself with my pets first?" Kokabiel snapped his fingers. Four magic circles appeared, two in the air and two on the ground. From them, two Minotaurs and two giant birds appeared. The birds flapped their wings and thunder crackled overhead.

"Ho, two Minotaurs and two Thunderbirds, huh?" Kurosaki Ichigo muttered as he looked at them, but didn't do anything else to prepare for a fight.

The four creatures pounced at him, and still he did nothing. Rias wondered if he was insane.

"Sorry, but…" Suddenly, a hail of arrows shot out from behind, impeding the Thunderbirds' flight and forcing them to retreat. At the same time, two large blasts of energy shot out from the same direction and slammed into the Minotaurs, knocking them away.

"…I'd rather save my energy for fighting you. Sorry, Ishida, Chad, can I leave the small fry to you?" Kurosaki Ichigo called out in the direction the attacks came from. Rias turned to see a lean, somewhat plain-looking black-haired young man holding a metal bow and a tall, muscled man of Mexican descent with a red and black right arm that looked like a shield and a white and red left arm that had a spike growing out of the shoulder. Strangely, neither was dressed like Kurosaki Ichigo. Instead, they were dressed rather casually.

But, Rias could feel power coming from them as well. Not as great as Kurosaki Ichigo's but more than hers. They were not to be taken lightly.

"Yeah, we're a bit out of practice anyway. This should do as a warm up." The lean man answered. The other man gave Kurosaki Ichigo a thumbs-up. Both of them left to confront their opponents.

"Thanks. Inoue, can you take care of the wounded?"

"Yes!" This time, an orange-haired woman appeared. She was very pretty, even Rias had to admit that, and she had a bust size that could match her own. She knelt down beside the wounded and unconscious Koneko and whispered something. An orange, transparent barrier enveloped Koneko and amazingly, not only did Koneko's wounds close, even her torn clothes were restored. It was not an ordinary healing technique like Asia's, Rias realized. Perhaps a technique that manipulated time?

"Tch, looks like I have no choice then. Fine, I'll be your opponent." Kokabiel created a sword of light. Kurosaki Ichigo sighed.

"You know, you really should be taking me more seriously."

"Really? And why is that?"

"Well, for one thing…"

"…You haven't realized you're talking to a fake." Kurosaki Ichigo's voice came from a different direction. Rias looked to see that he was right next to Kokabiel.

"What?! Then, the one over there is…!?" The Kurosaki Ichigo that Kokabiel had been talking to suddenly lost his form and dissolved into a puddle of water.

"It's water magic." Kurosaki Ichigo moved at a ridiculous speed that Rias couldn't see at all. One moment he was next to Kokabiel, the next he was standing a distance away, with a golden sword in his hand that had…blood on the tip?

"ARRRRRRRRGH!" Kokabiel's pained scream pierced the night. His right hand was clutching his left hand…or rather, the stump that used to be his left hand. Blood poured out even as Kokabiel tried to stop it.

"Hey, don't turn your back on the enemy." Suddenly, Kurosaki Ichigo was behind Kokabiel. He held his golden sword up and unleashed a flurry of slashes on Kokabiel's unguarded back, slicing three of his wings in an instant. Then, he disappeared again and reappeared in his original spot where the water clone had dissolved.

"Haa…Haa…" Kokabiel was breathing heavily, still recovering from the loss of a hand and three wings. Rias was in shock. He had created magic circles at the bleeding stumps, preventing further blood loss. She, her peerage and Xenovia working together could barely even scratch him, but Kurosaki Ichigo was dominating the battle from the beginning!? It wasn't just her that was shocked, her entire peerage was in awe too.

"What a ridiculous speed…"

"I couldn't see it at all…"

"Just how strong is this guy?!"

Kokabiel stood up straight and wiped the sweat rolling down his face.

"That technique just now was Flash Strike, a sword thrust that can pierce even space-time…And the one you used on my back was Nine Fold Rakshasa, said to resemble a dance of death…Both of those are Angel Sword techniques."

Angel Sword techniques? Rias had only heard of them in passing. Heaven had five extremely powerful sword techniques that could allow even a weak Angel to overpower stronger opponents, though two of them were only known to Archangel Michael and to the original Lucifer before he fell. With them, the Angels initially had the upper hand in the war until Lucifer and several other High-ranking Angels fell. But how did Kurosaki Ichigo, a human, albeit a strong one, know them?

"Yeah, Michael-san personally taught them to me. Though since I'm not an Angel or a Fallen Angel, I can't use them to their full potential." Kurosaki Ichigo shrugged off the feat like it was nothing, causing Rias to stare at him incredulously.

"…Allow me to praise you. The Angel Sword techniques took years for us, the original High-ranking Angels to create and an equal amount of time to master. For you, a mere human, to be able to use them with your level of proficiency after only 4 years in the Church is definitely no small feat. You're nothing short of a genius with a sword. Or perhaps Michael is just a better teacher than I thought? …No, the power that sword is releasing proves that you are exceedingly skilled with a sword." Kokabiel praised Kurosaki Ichigo's skill and analyzed him.

"Oh, you know about my Claiomh Solais?"

"Of course. Claiomh Solais is a Holy Sword that grows in power in proportion to its wielder's level of swordsmanship. Most of the idiots in our ranks think that Claiomh Solais isn't as much of a threat as Excalibur, Caliburn or Durandal, and in a sense, they're right. But, the leaders knew just how dangerous Claiomh Solais was in the right hands, like Nuada. And now, the power Claiomh Solais is releasing can match the Durandal that the girl over there is holding. I definitely cannot take you lightly."

A Holy Sword that becomes more powerful the more skilled its user is…What a terrifying thought. And it's already as strong as Durandal that is famed for its legendary destructive power. Rias shuddered as she thought of just how much more powerful it could become in the future.

Then, she noticed Claiomh Solais glowing erratically. Kurosaki Ichigo seemed to grow exasperated and rapped his knuckle on the flat side of the blade.

"Oi, don't get a big head just because the enemy praised you. You can preen all you want after the fight is over." Kurosaki Ichigo reprimanded…his sword? For an instant, Rias thought that Kurosaki Ichigo might have a few screws loose, but that thought vanished as soon as it appeared when the erratic glowing stabilized. Evidently, Claoimh Solais had a higher level of sentience than other Holy Swords.

"Now then, are you going to get serious or what?" Kurosaki Ichigo asked Kokabiel, acting as though he hadn't just admonished his own weapon.

"Hmph, I won't be taking you lightly anymore. With every bit of my power, I will destroy you." Kokabiel created a sword of light in his remaining hand. Immediately, a ball of magic energy gathered at the tip.

"Oh, that technique is…Looks like I'll have to return the favor." Kurosaki Ichigo raised Claiomh Solais and amazingly, the same ball of magic energy started forming at its tip as well. Both of them got into the same stance, their sword-wielding arm pulled back, and thrust their swords forward at the same time.

""Transmigration Cycle!"" Both balls of magic energy left their respective blades and expanded as they rapidly made their way through the air towards each other. They clashed with each other, disintegrating the ground beneath and releasing so much power that Rias, despite being a distance away from the fight, had to brace herself so that she wouldn't be blown away. The energy balls were too bright to look at, but the light was rapidly diminishing as both energy balls attempted to overpower the other. Soon, the victor was decided and Kurosaki Ichigo's attack dissipated and Kokabiel's attack made its way towards him. But, it had already lost most of its power overcoming the other attack that Kurosaki Ichigo simply had to turn his body 90 degrees to avoid it.

"Incredible, to think that the power of your Transmigration Cycle could rival mine." Kokabiel commented.

"…No, if that was your full power, your Transmigration Cycle should have easily overpowered mine. Are you still holding back? Or…is it that you can't use your full power rather than you chose not to?" Kurosaki Ichigo asked Kokabiel who grimaced in response.

"It appears that my hunch was right after all. Once you lost one of your hands, your medium for channeling your power, your combat prowess was effectively cut in half."

"So, you did deliberately aim for my hand. And cutting off three of my wings on the same side…I guess that's to destroy my balance in the air?"

"That's right. Unfortunately, it's pretty troublesome for me to use flight magic while fighting, and most certainly suicidal against someone as strong as you. So I decided to even the odds first."

Rias was stunned at the revelation. So far, all the members of the Church up until now had been power idiots who attempted to force their way through everything. Kurosaki Ichigo came up with a simple yet effective strategy that had crippled Kokabiel's power in an instant, something that even Sona would have approved of. It was then that Rias realized just how terrifying Kurosaki Ichigo was. And he hadn't even used True Longinus yet.

"Smart boy. You're certainly better than the fools lying half-dead over there who were stupid enough to think they could defeat me with their meager power." Kokabiel's eyes shifted to Rias and the rest who had been defeated as he taunted them. Rias grimaced, but said nothing because she knew that he was right. She had been incredibly arrogant to think that her peerage, none of whom had ever experienced an actual fight, could defeat Kokabiel.

"Shall we continue? Even if you can only use half of your power effectively, you should still be able to put quite a fight."

"Of course. I'll have you entertain me for a bit longer, protégé of Michael."

Both of them vanished in a flash and reappeared as they clashed, the shockwaves almost blowing Rias away. Unreal, for a human to be able to match a Fallen Angel leader.

*CAW*

Rias was startled to hear a pained cawing of a bird, and realized that she had forgotten about the Thunderbirds and Minotaurs. She turned to see the lean man, Ishida, walking away while adjusting his glasses from the carcasses of the Thunderbirds that had light arrows sticking out of random places on their bodies. No, not random places, she realized, all of the places that the arrows struck were vitals. The forehead, the lung, the heart, the throat, every vital that she could think of had been pierced. And he had pierced the exact same spot on both Thunderbirds as they flew several dozen feet above him. What incredible marksmanship…

*BAM*

Rias's head whipped around as she turned to see that the other man, Chad, had killed both Minotaurs. The carcasses were heavily misshapen, as though every bone in their body had shattered and Rias noted that they both had numerous fist-sized holes through their torsos.

And most amazing of all, there wasn't so much as a scratch on either of them. In fact, both of them looked rather bored, as though the High-Class mythical creatures hadn't been worth their time. They were strong, Rias realized, much stronger than she was.

"Kurosaki, do you need help?" Ishida called out to Kurosaki Ichigo who was in a blade lock with Kokabiel.

"Nah, I got this. Get the wounded somewhere safe, or they'll get caught up in the fight." Kurosaki Ichigo answered without looking back, focusing on pushing Kokabiel away.

Rias was unceremoniously lifted off the ground and draped over the shoulders of Chad, who then picked Akeno and Issei up. Yuuto stood up shakily and helped Xenovia up. Ishida picked Asia up while supporting Issei, and the woman Kurosaki Ichigo called Inoue carried Koneko in her arms.

"…Is there a place that's a distance away but where the fight is still visible?" The man called Chad asked her. Rias thought for a moment. The first location that came to her mind was her own clubroom. It was in the old school building that was a safe distance away and had a clear view of the field, but they had to cut across the field and walk into the line of fire to get there, so she crossed that idea out. The second location that came to mind was the gymnasium, but Kokabiel had destroyed at the beginning of the fight. So that left…

"The Student Council room. It's on the fourth floor of the main building and has a clear view of the field." Chad nodded and started running in the direction of the main building, Ishida, Inoue and Yuuto behind him. Rias had to hold on to his neck tightly to stop herself from falling off. Behind them, the sounds of battle grew louder as both sides used more and more powerful attacks to defeat the other.

Chad ran through the halls of the building and up the stairs without showing any signs of exhaustion and he reached the Student Council room, not even out of breath. He, Ishida and Inoue set them down on the couch at the side, while Yuuto and Xenovia slumped to the ground, completely exhausted from the battle earlier.

The three walked over to the window to watch the fight. Rias craned her neck, too tired to actually move, to try and get a look at the fight. At this angle, she could only see parts of the fight. So, she summoned her remaining strength to force herself to move to one of the seats that had a clear view of the field. Around her, the members of her peerage, save Asia and Koneko who were still unconscious, and plus Xenovia, did the same, all wanting to watch the fight.

"…Ishida, do you have a clear shot from here?" Rias heard Chad ask Ishida, who she noticed was aiming his bow at the fight and moving his arm, trying to get a clear shot at Kokabiel.

"…It's no use. They're too close to each other and moving too fast. I might hit accidently hit Kurosaki. Looks like he's on his own." Ishida gave up and dropped his arm after a few moments of attempting to aim at Kokabiel.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

Several explosions rocked the whole campus as Kokabiel tossed multiple spears of light at Kurosaki Ichigo who either evaded or smashed them with Claiomh Solais. Both of them fell into the same stance and met each other blade for blade in a dance of death.

""Nine Fold Rakshasa!"" Rias's supernatural hearing heard the tow of them call out the names of their attacks. Again and again, each sword strike from either of them was parried by an identical sword strike from the other. One, two, three…Nine strikes. The technique ended, but Kokabiel suddenly followed up with a upward thrust that knocked Claiomh Solais away, surprising Kurosaki Ichigo as he lost his balance from the sudden attack.

"Flash Strike. And followed by…!" Kokabiel pointed the hilt of his sword of light at Kurosaki Ichigo's unguarded torso. Rias's eyes widened in shock when she saw the same ball of magic energy forming at the hilt of the sword.

"Transmigration Cycle!" The ball of energy exploded at point blank range, the shockwave knocking Kokabiel back . A crater had formed by the explosion, thick smoke billowing from it. Kurosaki Ichigo was obscured by the smoke, and Rias couldn't be certain what had happened to him. Meanwhile, several members of her peerage cried out in dismay and despair at the apparent defeat or even demise of their last hope. But, Rias noticed that Kurosaki Ichigo's three allies did not seem the least bit worried.

"Good grief. I didn't think a mere human could push me this far. It was a risky move for even me, using Transmigration Cycle at close range. You weren't bad at all, much stronger than most opponents I've fought. And you used the Angel Sword techniques with proficiency that only master swordsmen could have. It's just too bad, the ones who created and perfected Nine Fold Rakshasa were me and Uriel. Following up with another Angel Sword right after is easy as breathing to me. And you were mistaken to think that Transmigration Cycle was similar to the other Angel Sword techniques. Unlike Flash Strike or Nine Fold Rakshasa, techniques that combine magic with swordsmanship, Transmigration Cycle is more akin to a magic spell that works best when a sword is used as a medium. Therefore, Transmigration Cycle can be focused at any part of a sword, not just the tip. I guess Michael didn't mention that." Kokabiel commented and then waited for a few moments before sighing.

"Is it over already? What a shame, I was just starting to enjoy myself. Five minutes before the Earth Shattering spell activates. I guess I can take my time killing the rest." Kokabiel looked up at the window that they were looking out from. Rias paled as Kokabiel started walking towards them. Then, Kokabiel stiffened and ducked just in time to avoid a light arrow aimed for his head.

"Where do you think you're think you're going? The battle's just beginning. Oh, but I'll thank you for telling me about Transmigration Cycle's true nature though. I can already think of a number of ways to apply that." The smoke suddenly dispersed and Kurosaki Ichigo was standing in the center of the crater, suit ruined from the waist up, but otherwise unharmed and holding a metal bow in his left hand. And in his right hand was Claoimh Solais, glowing brighter than before.

"That arrow just now…Are you a Quincy? I thought the Shinigami wiped your kind out millennia ago. But most importantly, I'm rather curious about how you survived a point blank Transmigration Cycle without getting a single injury."

"Hm? Oh, the last one's simple. I used a defensive technique to negate it right before it hit me. That was a close call. If I was just a split second too slow, your Transmigration Cycle would have put a hole in my gut." Kurosaki Ichigo casually brushed off his near death experience.

"Defensive technique? Is it Blut Vene?"

"No, Blut Vene is great for stopping physical attacks, but is ineffective against strong energy-based attacks like your Transmigration Cycle, so I infused my body with the element of Earth." Kurosaki Ichigo explained, but the concept was completely foreign to Rias. Infusing your own body with an element? How would that work, and what purpose did that serve? But, Kokabiel's face had gotten serious.

"Elemtal Infusion? To think that Michael would actually teach something so dangerous to you…He's a bit more cunning than I gave him credit for."

"I take it you're familiar with this technique."

"Of course I am. We, the original High-ranking Angels were the ones who invented that technique. Infusing elements into your own body to increase your combat prowess, to that end, we each chose an element other than Holy to specialize in. Uriel and I took Fire, Gabriel and Shemhaza took Water, Michael took Earth, Raphael took Wind, Baraqiel took Lightning and Azazel and Lucifer took Darkness. Each element has a different effect. Wind increases speed, Earth augments physical strength and defense, Water enhances reflexes, instincts and intuition, Fire increase fighting spirit, Lightning increases speed and power but completely forgoes defenses, and Holy and Darkness have the same effect as the first four, but put a massive strain on the user's body."

"Correct. And furthermore, I'm also capable of this." Kurosaki Ichigo clenched his fists and took a deep breath. Immediately, fire flared around his left arm, water flowed around his right arm, gales of wind covered his left foot and a brown aura surrounded his right foot. The four elements, Wind, Earth, Water and Fire expanded and enveloped his body and then seemed to vanish, but Rias knew better. Even from here, she could feel the oppressive aura coming from Kurosaki Ichigo. Kokabiel took a step back in shock.

"Impossible…Four elements at the same time!? And furthermore, opposed pairs!? That isn't possible!"

"You're right. This should be impossible. But, did you forget already? Just a few minutes ago, you witnessed the creation of a Holy-Demonic Sword, something that should also have been impossible. How did that happen?"

"…! The absence of God…!"

"Exactly. Because the Biblical God, arguably the strongest God in his time, is dead, the world's balance has been shattered, allowing for the fusion of opposing elements like Holy and Darkness, Fire and Water, and Wind and Earth. That is what you're seeing in front of you right now. A perfect fusion of four elements into a single body. Well, I didn't use Lightning, Holy or Darkness since their effects are quite detrimental."

"…How? It took us, the original High-ranking Angels a full decade to fully master our chosen elements. How is possible that you've already mastered the elements to this extent!?"

"The main reason why it took you so long is because it was a completely new concept at the time, so your training was mainly trial and error until you found the proper ways to use the elements and then mastering them. For me, it was easy enough once Michael-san taught me the basics. Each element took me about a month to master. Oh, but multiple elemental infusion was unheard of before me, so I had to take it slow lest I destroy my own body. Carefully testing each combination, their benefits and drawbacks, took me 3 years under Michael-san's supervision."

Incredible…in just slightly half a year, he had a mastered technique that took the original High-ranking Angels a decade to do the same, even though it was with help, and then further improved on it in 3 years…Kokabiel was right, Kurosaki Ichigo was nothing short of a genius, and not just in swordsmanship.

"Shall we continue then? Playtimes's over, the real battle starts now."

"Don't get too cocky, boy. Even if you have powered up by using the elements, I'm still more skilled in using Angel Sword techniques than you are. I can easily compensate for the change in power, even with just one hand."

"Then, why don't you try?" Ichigo dismissed his bow and held Claiomh Solais in a familiar stance.

"Nine Fold Rakshasa again? I'm the one who created that technique, I won't be beaten by it." Kokabiel held his sword of light in the same stance, albeit with just one hand. Still, Kurosaki Ichigo remained confident and smirked.

They rushed at each other, but right before they clashed, Claiomh Solais was suddenly wreathed in flames. Kokabiel noticed and hesitated, a fatal mistake when Kurosaki Ichigo was already that close to him.

"Nine Fold Rakshasa: Asura!" A flurry of flaming sword strikes smashed into Kokabiel, who cried out in pain as the wounds dealt by the sword were crudely cauterized by the flames. By the time the ninth strike hit, Kokabiel's torso was covered in cauterized gashes and third degree burns, and it was obvious that he was in great pain.

"..What…was that!?" Kokabiel asked with a labored voice, the pain so great that he had to force his words out.

"It's just something I discovered by accident while training. It's possible to augment the Angel Sword techniques with elements. Even Michael-san seemed quite surprised, since the idea never occurred to him. That technique just now was Nine Fold Rakshasa augmented by the element of Fire, as you could probably already tell. Being human, I can't use the Angel Sword techniques to their full potential. However, I can increase their power to the point where they're every bit as strong as when an Angel uses them by imbuing them with elements. Michael-san found it to be an interesting concept, so he and the other Seraphs are experimenting with this too."

"…Ha..Ha ha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kokabiel suddenly let out a crazed booming laughter. Rias felt a shiver run down her spine at the sound of his laughter. If she hadn't thought he was a complete monster before, she certainly did now.

"THIS! IT'S THIS THAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! BLOODSHED! A STRONG OPPONENT! A REAL FIGHT! THIS WILL MAKE FOR AN APPROPRIATE PRELUDE TO THE WAR!" Kokabiel shouted in an ecstatic voice. His aura suddenly expanded, forcing Rias and her peerage, plus Xenovia, to their knees. Amazingly, the other three humans, remained standing, even if they looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Ho, that's a nice bloodlust coming from you, but I have to wonder, is it just for show?" Kurosaki Ichigo, who didn't seem the least bit bothered by the sudden increase in Kokabiel's power, continued to taunt his opponent.

"Oi oi, Kokabiel's power went up by that much, and he's still making fun of him!? Does he have a death wish!?" Issei voiced Rias's thoughts perfectly.

"No, Kurosaki's riling him up on purpose. One of the most important things for a swordsman is to keep their cool in a fight. When they lose their temper, their skills devolve from precise, measured strikes to random, unskilled and brute attacks. I'm impressed, he was never this analytical in battle before." Ishida explained.

"HAHAHAHAHA! WHETHER I'M SERIOUS OR JUST FULL OF HOT AIR, WHY DON'T YOU CONFIRM THAT FOR YOUSELF!?" Kokabiel's body burst into white flames…or so it seemed. Kokabiel's body was indeed covered in white flames, but they did not burn him. Instead, they caressed him gently, as though completely subservient to him, a sharp contrast to their fierce appearance and heat.

"Holy and Fire elements?"

"YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO CAN INFUSE ELEMENTS INTO HIS BODY!"

Kokabiel disappeared, and then reappeared behind Kurosaki Ichigo with the tip of his sword of light aimed for his opponent's head. Kurosaki Ichigo blurred for an instant and faced Kokabiel with the tip of Claiomh Solais aimed not for Kokabiel, but for his sword of light.

"FLASH STRIKE!"

"Flash Strike: Gale!"

The two sword collided and Claiomh Solais, the force, sharpness, speed and precision of the thrust increased by the power of the element of Wind, shattered Kokabiel's sword of light effortlessly. But, the thrust lost its power right after, and Claiomh Solais failed to reach Kokabiel, who created another sword of light that he used to knock Claiomh Solais away and kicked Kurosaki Ichigo in the gut. Kuorsaki Ichigo twitched as he was sent flying.

"Incredible, to still be able to cause me pain even when I've infused my body with the power of Earth. As expected of a Fallen Angel leader ." Kurosaki Ichigo commented as he recovered in midair and pointed the tip of Claiomh Solais at Kokabiel who was moving rapidly towards him. The familiar ball of energy started building up, but this time, streams of water appeared from Kurosaki Ichigo's body and gathered into the energy ball as well.

"Transmigration Cycle, powered up by the element of Water. Eternal Transmigration Cycle!" The ball left the tip and expanded even more rapidly than before, already Kokabiel's size when it reached him.

*BOOM*

An explosion rang and smoke billowed from the point of impact, but Kokabiel burst out of the smoke, his body only lightly charred, but his remaining wings burnt, tattered, some even bent at unnatural angles.

"Wow, you used your remaining wings to take the brunt of the attack? Not bad, but you should pay attention to your surroundings." Kokabiel paused and looked around to find himself surrounded by smaller energy balls.

"WHAT!?"

"It's the effect of the Water element. Not only does it increase the strength and accuracy of Transmigration Cycle, when the initial attack is over, the remaining energy that dispersed into the air 'flow' back together to form smaller balls of energy to attack again. This process repeats itself over and over until all of the energy had been expended." The moment Kurosaki Ichigo finished his explanation, the small balls of energy shot forward and collided with Kokabiel again, releasing a series of small explosions on his body. Immediately, a greater number of even smaller balls of energy formed and shot at Kokabiel, who tried to shield himself with his wings, but because several of them were broken, he was unable to cover most of his body. Once again, small explosions were released on his body. As numerous tiny balls, almost too small to see, started forming around Kokabiel again, Kokabiel let out a scream.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRGH!" Pillars of fire erupted from the ground and consumed the balls of energy. Kokabiel ran like a mad bull at Kurosaki Ichigo, his body wreathed in white flames, swinging his sword madly. His attacks were indeed random and unskilled, even to Rias's untrained eye. Kurosaki Ichigo was effortlessly evading every attack, only making minimal effort to move around them. As Kurosaki Ichigo dodged each attack, Kokabiel grew more and more frustrated.

"You'll never hit me at this rate." Kurosaki Ichigo stated, sounding like it was a fact rather than just a taunt. Rias was inclined to agree with him. Kokabiel screamed in fury.

"YOU DAMN BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT! SO WHAT IF YOU'RE ABLE TO DODGE ALL OF MY SWORD STRIKES. IN THAT CASE, I'LL JUST DESTROY MY SURROUNDINGS WITH MY FLAMES!"

Suddenly, the entire field was engulfed in white flames. Rias caught a glimpse of the surprised expression on Kurosaki Ichigo's face before he was obscured by said flames. The flames expanded upwards, almost reaching the barrier that Sona and her peerage were maintaining.

When the flames finally died down, it was to see that Kurosaki Ichigo was kneeling on the ground with one knee, his body heavily scorched. Still, the light in his eyes had not yet died, instead it shone even brighter. But, Kokabiel was already pouncing, his sword of light wreathed in white flames. Ichigo's eyes widened as he attempted to move away.

"I'LL THANK YOU FOR SHOWING THIS TO ME, BOY! NINE FOLD RAKSHASA: ASURA!"

Kokabiel's blade moved at ridiculous speed. Kurosaki Ichigo summoned a wall of water right in front of him, obviously attempting to extinguish the flames to reduce the power of the attack. As each attack met the water wall, steam rose as the water instantly vaporized from the sheer heat. But, Kurosaki Ichigo's efforts were not in vain. The flames had been put out, though he had not been so lucky as to stop the strikes themselves as well. His body was covered in bleeding gashes and he was panting heavily, both from exhaustion and from pain.

"HAHAHAHAHA! WHAT'S WRONG, BOY!? WHERE DID ALL THE BRAVADO FROM BEFORE GO!? THERE'S ONLY 1 MINUTE BEFORE THE EARTH SHATTER SPELL ACTIVATES, SO YOU BETTER STEP UP TOUR GAME!"

"1 minute left, huh? No choice then. I didn't want to show one of my aces in the hole so soon, but there's no other way out of this."

Kurosaki Ichigo stood up and dismissed Claiomh Solais. In the next instant, a beautiful ornate golden spear appeared in his right hand, shining brightly in the darkness of the night, like a star. That could only be…

"True Longinus…" Rias whispered in awe and fear as she stared at the strongest of the 13 Longinus Gears. Several shivers went up and down her spine as every cell in her body was screaming at her to run, to stay away from the ridiculous holy aura that, even from this distance, felt like the rays of the sun itself were searing her skin.

"Xenovia, look away! If those of strong faith stare at True Longinus for too long, they'll go insane!" Kurosaki Ichigo turned his head in their direction and called out. Rias noticed Xenovia forcefully tearing her eyes away from the legendary spear and force herself to focus on Kokabiel instead.

"HA! TRUE LONGINUS!? WHAT CAN YOU DO IN LESS THAN A MINUTE!?" Kokabiel laughed derisively.

"This." Kurosaki Ichigo calmly answered and immediately, the spear head seemed to open up, revealing a ball of light inside that released a flash of light that blinded Kokabiel, causing him to instinctively cover his eyes. Multiple chains of light with sharp ends shot out of the ball and pierced through several spots on Kokabiel's body. His wrists, his ankles, his elbows, his knee caps and his shoulders, all were wrapped in chains of light. The other ends of the chains left the ball and fell into left hand of Kurosaki Ichigo, who threw them in several direction, stabbing them into the ground, a tree, and the side of the main building. Small magic circles appeared at the spots that had been pierced, setting the chains in place and preventing them from being pulled out.

Kokabiel struggled as hard as he could to break out, but the chains absolutely refused to budge.

"WHAT IS THIS!?"

"Chains forged from the light of True Longinus. They are so powerful that nothing short of Maou-Level power can break them. Since you can't channel your power properly in your current state, I imagine breaking out would be nigh impossible for you." Kurosaki Ichigo explained as he got into a strange stance. It wasn't any spear stance that Rias had ever seen, not that she had seen many. He was holding the spot near the spear head with his right hand and the spot near the hilt with his left. How was he supposed to use True Longinus like that? Rather than a spear stance, he looked more like he was holding the handle of a sword…

The moment that thought entered Rias's mind, a giant ethereal blade appeared from the spear head, giving True Longinus the appearance of a giant ethereal western broadsword, easily thrice Kurosaki Ichigo's height. Holy power started building up throughout the ethereal blade, making look like a giant wave of holy energy. Rias shuddered, that level of holy energy was unlike anything she had ever seen.

"Tell me, Kokabiel. Do you recognize this technique?" Kurosaki Ichigo calmly asked.

Kokabiel paused in his struggling and his eyes widened as far as they could.

"That buildup of holy power…It can't be! Michael wouldn't dare to teach that to anyone!"

"But, he did. Farewell, Kokabiel. Sword of the Heavens!" Kurosaki Ichigo swung the giant blade, and the world was engulfed in golden light. When it died down, it was too see Kurosaki Ichigo kneeling on the ground, completely out of breath, True Longinus shimmering elegantly in contrast. In front of him, the area had completely disintegrated, nithing was left in the wake of the attack. Nothing except for Kokabiel's blackened body, somehow still intact even after getting hit by that absurd attack. It was impossible to determine if he was still alive or not from this distance.

Rias noticed that the buildup of magic power in the area, the power that was being used for the Earth Shattering spell, had disappeared. The town was still intact, so that meant that…the spell was successfully stopped? Kokabiel had really been defeated?

The moment that thought had registered, Rias seemed to be filled with energy. She, followed by her peerage and Xenovia, Asia and Koneko being carried by Issei and Yuuto respectively, rushed out of the Student Council room, the three humans taking it slow behind them. They made it out to the destroyed field, where Rias noticed that Sona's barrier was gone, either shattered by the attack earlieror removed willingly once Sona realized that the battle was over. Kurosaki Ichigo was sitting on the ground.

"Geez, what a pain in the ass. Oi, I held back enough to not kill him! That's good enough for you, right?" Kurosaki Ichigo called out. Rias wondered to who.

"Yeah, thanks. We'll be taking him in for interrogation." A black and blonde haired man with a goatee, dressed in a yukata, with twelve jet-black feathered wings walked up to them, without her or any of her peerage noticing. Rias stiffened as she realized that the Viceroy of the Fallen Angels himself was standing in front of her. And behind him was…someone donned in a white version of the Scale Mail that Issei had used against Raiser.

"Hakuryuukou…" Rias whispered. She caught sight of Issei clutching his left arm in pain. It was an angry red and scales were beginning to form over it. Was the Welsh Dragon reacting to the presence of his nemesis?

"Vali, take him." Azazel said to the Hakuryuukou, who walked over to Kokabiel's unconscious body and threw him over his shoulder without a care. He then made his way over to Freed's unconscious body that looked like it had been tossed around a lot during the fight. Rias had actually forgotten about him.

"Ah, sorry, but the Stray Priest is coming with us. He needs to face punishment for his sins." Kurosaki Ichigo intervened. The Hakuryuukou looked to Azazel for confirmation. Azazel shrugged.

"Fine with me. We only need one of them to interrogate anyway."

"Still Kurosaki, you took a lot of damage. Are you sure you haven't lost your touch?" Ishida smirked and taunted Kurosaki Ichigo, whose eye twitched. Inoue had moved to his side to heal him. The same orange barrier from before enveloped Kurosaki Ichigo, whose wounds healed rapidly and his outfit restored as well.

"Shut up. To quote a certain former enemy of ours, 'it's exceedingly difficult to step on an ant and yet not apply enough pressure to kill it.' If Azazel hadn't requested that I keep Kokabiel alive and I was allowed to use my Balance Breaker, I could have easily killed him, or at least severely wounded him." Rias wondered if Kurosaki Ichigo had used anywhere near his full power in this fight if he could so casually refer to Kokabiel as an ant.

"Just at the cost you expending all of your reserves and the entire prefecture being destroyed in the wake said attack, isn't that right, Ichigo-kun?" A new voice cut in. Rias turned to see a young, handsome blonde and green-eyed man dressed in ceremonial robes. Right behind him was Sona and her peerage, all looking shell-shocked, and also…

"Onii-sama!?" Her brother, Sirzechs Lucifer, a red-haired, green-eyed man dressed in armor and ceremonial robes, was walking up to them. Rias and her peerage hastily bowed to him, though Issei and Yuuto had some difficulty since they were carrying someone.

"Oh, Rias, there you are. I arrived in the middle of the fight, so I was quite worried when I didn't see you anywhere. The elders were quite alarmed when I was about to personally enter the human world. I wasted a lot of time explaining the situation to them."

"O-Onii-sama, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here yourself? I was under the impression that you would just be sending reinforcements."

"I already knew about Kokabiel before Akeno-kun contacted me. I came here to watch my godson fight. And it was quite an impressive fight, Ichigo-kun, considering that Kokabiel had centuries worth of battle experience." Rias's brain stopped when she heard the word 'godson'. Her peerage, as well as Xenovia, had dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

"Godson? I don't recall you or my old man ever mentioning that little detail, Sirzechs-san." Kurosaki Ichigo casually talked to her brother, the Maou, as though he was an old friend.

"Hm? I guess the subject never came up." Her brother shrugged it off. At that point, Rias's brain restarted.

"Wait, Onii-sama, the Church's Strongest Exorcist is your godson!?" Rias voiced the question that had been on everyone's minds.

"That's right. His father is a friend of mine who helped the underworld out of a tight spot once." At the back of her mind, Rias wondered who this friend was, but right now, that wasn't important to her.

"But he's killed several of our kin! He's widely feared throughout the underworld as one of our greatest threats!"

Kurosaki Ichigo snorted.

"The Devils think that I'm a monster that's out to get them? Talk about irony."

Her brother laughed.

"Oh, that's right, I never explained the situation to you. Oh well, you'll hear about it at the conference. Speaking of which, Michael-dono, Azazel." Her brother grew serious and turned to the other two leaders who had similar expressions on their faces.

"Yes, it's about time."

"Now that the truth of God has been revealed…"

"It's true then? The Lord is really gone?" Xenovia interrupted, a look of dismay and despair on her face. Michael looked down sadly.

"Yes, unfortunately, it's true. Our Lord fell in the Great War."

Rias was glad that Asia was still unconscious. Hearing from Archangel Michael himself that God was dead would have shattered her mind. As it were, Xenovia looked she was on the verge of a breakdown.

"…What am I supposed to do now!? I've lived up to this point for the sole purpose of serving our Lord. If he is gone, then what am I supposed to do…!?" Xenovia demanded. It sounded rhetorical, but she seemed desperate for someone to answer her.

"…You can choose what you wish to do. Whether you'll stay in the Church or leave, I will begrudge your decision. It's a rightful atonement for me, who deceived all of you. No, that alone isn't enough to atone for my sin."

"Xenovia, like Michael-san said, you're free to choose your own path from here. But for now, you should rest. You've taken a lot of damage, both physical and emotional." Kurosaki Ichigo said. Xenovia nodded with a blank look on her face, as though she was completely lost as to what she should do.

"It looks like you bigwigs have a couple of details on iron out. Do you mind if I head home now? It's late and my family's probably worried about me. …Well, my little sisters probably are, at least." Kurosaki Ichigo asked. It hadn't occurred to Rias that he had family here. She probably should have known, since 'Kurosaki Ichigo' was a Japanese name.

"You can go, but please pass a message on to Yamamoto-dono for us. The Three Factions are having a conference to discuss our current situation, and we would like Soul Society to participate too."

"I don't have to. They've probably been observing us since the beginning of the fight." Kurosaki Ichigo looked skywards and waved his hand in a random direction. Rias wondered if the fight had an effect on his sanity. Michael, Azazel and her brother laughed.

"I see. Very well then, you may go, I'll cast a teleportation spell for you. But, you'll be staying in Japan a while longer. Your presence will be required at the conference as well."

"Got it. Dulio will probably complain since I was supposed to bring back food for him. Oh well, too bad for him." Kurosaki Ichigo said as he and his companions disappeared through the magic circle that Michael had created under them.

Rias was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to go home, take a bath and curl up with Issei in bed. She sighed when Ddraige suddenly started talking to Albion through the gem on Boosted Gear. Looks like she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

* * *

"And so, I'll be staying in Japan a bit longer than expected." Ichigo told his family. Yuzu was torn between being ecstatic that her brother would be around and being annoyed because that meant Saya would be around too. She decided on happy, since this meant that she could at least keep an eye on them.

*YAWN*

Ichigo let out a big yawn, the exhaustion built up from today's events finally catching up to him.

"Time to sleep. Saya, bath time."

"Okay!"

"MUKYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Yuzu screamed like she did the night before and threw her arms up in frustration, storming up to her room to pout. Karin followed after her after rolling her eyes. Isshin also retired to his bedroom.

Despite all the melodrama, Ichigo was happy that he was home. He silently prayed to the late God that he would be allowed to stay longer.

"…Hey, Saya! Don't fall asleep on me, we still need to take a bath!"

…Though, he would like it better if things like this didn't occur too often.

* * *

And this chapter is done, right on the first day of 2014! Though I suppose in some parts of the world, it's already the second. Oh well, either way, Happy New Year to all of my readers!

I couldn't believe how easy this chapter was to write. Even with all the weddings, events and dinners I had to attend, I still managed to complete this chapter in a week. And I must say, I'm quite happy with it.

The Angel Sword techniques and the Elemental Infusion concept are from Monster Girl Quest, an eroge that has an unexpectedly good story behind it. Fans may notice that I've renamed Flash Kill to Flash Strike and Heavenly Demon Revival to Transmigration Cycle. The former is because Flash Kill sounds too inelegant to be a prized Angel technique. The latter is because I always thought that Heavenly Demon Revival was an incorrect translation. Though, with my meager understanding of the Japanese language and from the game itself, Transmigration Cycle was the best name I could come up with. Fans may also notice that instead of Earth, I've chosen to combine Water with Transmigration Cycle instead. The reason is simple, I want Sword of the Heavens to be the one that's augmented by Earth. Are you kidding me, Sword of Heaven and Earth is just too good of a name to give up!

For those wondering, Claiomh Solais looks like Excaliber from Sword Art Online. INot the anime version, that one looks too bland for me. There's a colored picture of Sinon holding Excaliber on Deviantart by zheure, so check it out if you want to see what I picture Claiomh Solais to look like.

That's all. I've burnt out my mind after writing 5 chapters in a month, so I'll be taking a short break, a week or two, to recharge. As always, please read and review.


	3. Important Notice

Hey guys. Sorry, this is not an update. I have a piece of bad news. I've sprained my back. It's not too serious, but I'm taking painkillers thrice a day to deal with the pain. Thus, I cannot sit down for long periods of time to type out chapters like I usually do. Expect updates to be slow for maybe a week or two, which is a real pity, considering I was so close to finishing the next chapter of Dragon Emperor of the Heavenly Storm.

That's all. Sorry for getting your hopes up.


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